1 
■ 



i 




I 



/ 



The Library 

of 

Literary History 



Cta ptrrarg oi ptermrg Pisiorg 



A LITERARY HISTORY OF INDIA. By R. W. 
Frazer, LL.B. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF IRELAND. By Douglas 
Hyde, LL.D. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF AMERICA. By BARRETT 
Wendell. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. By J. H. 
Millar, LL.B. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF PERSIA. By Edward 
G. Browne, M.A. (In Two Volumes.) 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF FRANCE. By Emile 
Faguet. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS. By 
Reynold A. Nicholson, M.A. 

Other Volumes in Preparation. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF ROME. By J. Wight 
Duff, M.A. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE JEWS. By Israel 
Abrahams, M.A. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF SPAIN. By James Fitz- 
maurice-Kelly. 

A LITERARY HISTORY OF RUSSIA. 

ETC. ETC. ETC. 



THE LI BR ART 

OF 

LITERARY HISTORY 



A Literary History of the Arabs 




Litigants before a Judge. 
From an Arabic manuscript in the British Museum (Or. 1200; No. 1007 in Rieu's 
Arabic S«/W7«««.0; dated A.H. 654 = A.D. iz 5 6, which contains the A/« ? «^ 
of Hariri istrated by 81 miniatures in colours. This ™«^*£2i& 
A bu z a vd and his son appearing before the Cadi oi Ma arratla l- 
f i -'""The ii<* U re on the left is Haritb b. Hammam, whom Hariri puts forward 
' u ' ; & rhe-relater of Abu Zavd's adventures. 



A Literary Histor 
of the Arabs 



By 

; i }■>*•>' 

Reynold A. Nicholson, M.A. 

Lecturer in Persian in the University of Cambridge, and sometime 
Fellow of Trinity College 



New York 

Charles Scribner's Sons 

153-157, Fifth Avenue 
1907 



{All rights reserved.) 



Preface 



The term 'Literary History' may be interpreted in such 
different ways that an author who uses it is bound to explain 
at the outset what particular sense he has attached to it. 
When Mr. Fisher Unwin asked me to contribute a volume on 
the Arabs to this Series, I accepted his proposal with alacrity, 
not only because I welcomed the opportunity of making 
myself better acquainted with Arabic history and literature, 
but also and more especially in the hope that I might be able 
to compile a work which should serve as a general introduction 
to the subject, and which should neither be too popular for 
students nor too scientific for ordinary readers. Its precise 
character was determined partly by my own predilections and 
partly by the conditions of time and space under which it had 
to be produced. To write a critical account of Arabic 
literature was out of the question. Brockelmann's invaluable 
work, which contains over a thousand closely-printed pages, is 
confined to biography and bibliography, and does not deal with 
the historical development of ideas. This, however, seems to 
me the really vital aspect of literary history. It has been my 
chief aim to sketch in broad outlines what the Arabs thought, 
and to indicate as far as possible the influences which moulded 
their thought. I am well aware that the picture is sadly 
incomplete, that it is full of gaps and blanks admitting of no 
disguise or apology ; but I hope that, taken as a whole, it is not 
unlike. Experience has convinced me that young students or 

ix 



X 



PREFACE 



Arabic, to whom this volume is principally addressed, often 
find great difficulty in understanding what they read, since 
they are not in touch with the political, intellectual, and 
religious notions which are presented to them. The pages of 
almost every Arabic book abound in familiar allusions to names, 
events, movements, and ideas, of which Moslems require no 
explanation, but which puzzle the Western reader unless he 
have some general knowledge of Arabian history in the widest 
meaning of the word. Such a survey is not to be found, I 
believe, in any single European book ; and if mine supply the 
want, however partially and inadequately, I shall feel that my 
labour has been amply rewarded. Professor E. G. Browne's 
Literary History of Persia covers to a certain extent the same 
ground, and discusses many important matters belonging to 
the common stock of Muhammadan history with a store of 
learning and wealth of detail which it would be impossible for 
me to emulate. The present volume, written from a different 
standpoint and on a far smaller scale, does not in any way clash 
with that admirable work ; on the contrary, numerous instances 
occur to me in which my omissions are justified by the fact 
that Professor Browne has already said all that is necessary. 
If I have sometimes insufficiently emphasised the distinction 
between history and legend on the one hand, and between 
popular legend and antiquarian fiction on the other, and if 
statements are made positively which ought to have been 
surrounded with a ring-fence of qualifications, the reader will 
perceive that a purely critical and exact method cannot reason- 
ably be expected in a compilation of this scope. 

As regards the choice of topics, I agree with the author of a 
famous Arabic anthology who declares that it is harder to 
select than compose [ikhtiyaru 'l-kalam afabu min taUifihi). 
Perhaps an epitomist may be excused for not doing equal 
justice all round. To me the literary side of the subject 
appeals more than the historical, and I have followed my bent 
without hesitation ; for in order to interest others a writer must 



PREFACE 



xi 



first be interested himself. In the verse-translations 1 have 
tried to represent the spirit and feeling of the original poems. 
This aim precludes verbal fidelity, which can only be attained 
through the disenchanting medium of prose, but scholars, I 
think, will recognise that my renderings are usually as faithful 
as such things can or should be. To reproduce a typical Arabic 
ode, e.g., one of the Mtfallaqat ('Suspended Poems'), in a 
shape at once intelligible and attractive to English readers is 
probably beyond the powers of any translator. Even in those 
passages which seem best suited for the purpose we are baffled 
again and again by the intensely national stamp of the ideas, 
the strange local colour of the imagery, and the obstinately 
idiomatic style. Modern culture can appreciate Firdawsi, 
'Umar Khayyam, Sa'di, and Hafiz : their large humanity 
touches us at many points ; but the old Arabian poetry moves 
in a world apart, and therefore, notwithstanding all its splendid 
qualities, will never become popular in ours. Of the later 
poets who lived under the 'Abbasid Caliphate one or two 
might, with good fortune, extend their reputation to the 
West : notably the wise sceptic and pessimist, Abu 'l-'Ala 
al-Ma'arrf. The following versions have at least the merit of 
being made directly from the original language and with a 
uniform motive. Considering the importance of Arabic poetry 
as (in the main) a true mirror of Arabian life, I do not think 
the space devoted to it is at all extravagant. Other branches 
of literature could not receive the same attention. Many an 
eminent writer has been dismissed in a few lines, many well- 
known names have been passed over. But, as before said, this 
work is a sketch of ideas in their historical environment rather 
than a record of authors, books, and dates. 

The transliteration of Arabic words, though superfluous for 
scholars and for persons entirely ignorant of the language, is an 
almost indispensable aid to the class of readers whom I have 
especially in view. My system is that recommended by the 



xii 



PREFACE 



Royal Asiatic Society and adopted by Professor Browne in his 
Literary History of Persia ; but I use z for the letter which he 
denotes by dh. The definite article al y which I have fre- 
quently omitted at the beginning of proper names, has been 
restored in the Index. It may save trouble if I mention here 
the abbreviations ' b.' for 6 ibn ' (son of) ; J.R.A.S. for 
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ; Z.D.M.G. for Zeitschrift 
der Deutschen Alorgenlandischen Gesellschaft ; and S.B.W.A. 
for Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie. 

Finally, it behoves me to make a full acknowledgment of 
my debt to the learned Orientalists whose works I have 
studied and freely 4 conveyed ' into these pages. References 
could not be given in every case, but the reader will see for 
himself how much is derived from Von Kremer, Goldziher, 
Noldeke, and Wellhausen, to recall only a few of the leading 
authorities. At the same time I have constantly gone back to 
the native sources of information, and a great portion of the 
book is based on my own reading and judgment. Although 
both the plan and the execution are doubtless open to censure, 
I trust that serious mistakes have been avoided. The warmest 
thanks are due to my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. 
Bevan, who read the proofs throughout and made a number of 
valuable remarks which will be found in the footnotes. Mr. 
A. G. Ellis kindly gave me the benefit of his advice in 
selecting the frontispiece as well as other help. I have also to 
thank the Editor of the Athenaum for permission to reprint 
my version of the Song of Vengeance by Ta'abbata Sharr an , 
which was originally published in that journal. 



REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON. 



Contents 

PAGE 

Preface ........ ix 

Introduction . . . . . . . xv 

CHAPTER 

I. Saba and Himyar . . . . . i 

II. The History and Legends of the Pagan Arabs . 30 

III. Pre-islamic Poetry, Manners, and Religion . 71 

IV. The Prophet and the Koran . . . .141 

V. The Orthodox Caliphate and the Umayyad 

Dynasty. . . . . . .181 

VI. The Caliphs of Baghdad . . . .254 

VII. Poetry, Literature, and Science in the 'Abbasid 

Period ....... 285 

VIII. Orthodoxy, Free-thought, and Mysticism . . 365 

IX. The Arabs in Europe ..... 405 

X. From the Mongol Invasion to the Present Day . 442 

Bibliography ....... 471 

Index , . . . . . , .481 

xiii 



Introduction 



The Arabs belong to the great family of nations which on 
account of their supposed descent from Shem, the son of 
Noah, are commonly known as the 'Semites.' 
The Semites, q^is term j nc i u( j es tne Babylonians and Assyrians, 
the Hebrews, the Phoenicians, the Aramaeans, the Abyssinians, 
the Sabaeans, and the Arabs, and although based on a classifica- 
tion that is not ethnologically precise — the Phoenicians and 
Sabseans, for example, being reckoned in Genesis, chap, x, 
among the descendants of Ham — it was well chosen by Eich- 
horn (f 1827) to comprehend the closely allied peoples which 
have been named. Whether the original home of the undivided 
Semitic race was some part of Asia (Arabia, Armenia, or the 
district of the Lower Euphrates), or whether, according to a 
view which has lately found favour, the Semites crossed 
into Asia from Africa, 1 is still uncertain. Long before the 
epoch when they first appear in history they had branched 
off from the parent stock and formed separate nationalities. 
The relation of the Semitic languages to each other cannot 
be discussed here, but we may arrange them in the chrono- 
logical order of the extant literature as follows : — 2 

1 H. Grimme, Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern : Mohammed (Munich, 
1904), p. 6 sqq. 

2 Cf. Noldeke, Die Semitischen Sprachen (Leipzig, 1887), or the same 
scholar's article, ' Semitic Languages,' in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 
9th edition. Renan's Histoire generate des langues semitiques (1855) is now 

XY 



xvi 



INTRODUCTION 



1. Babylonian or Assyrian (3000-500 B.C.). 

2. Hebrew (from 1500 B.C.). 

3. South Arabic, otherwise called Sabaean or Himyarite 
(inscriptions from 800 B.C.). 

4. Aramaic (inscriptions from 800 B.C.). 

5. Phoenician (inscriptions from 700 B.C.). 

6. iEthiopic (inscriptions from 350 a.d.). 

7. Arabic (from 500 a.d.). 



Notwithstanding that Arabic is thus, in a sense, the youngest 
of the Semitic languages, it is generally allowed to be nearer 
akin than any of them to the original archetype, the 
' Ursemitisch,' from which they all are derived, just as 
the Arabs, by reason of their geographical situation and the 
monotonous uniformity of desert life, have in some respects 
preserved the Semitic character more purely and exhibited it 
more distinctly than any people of the same family. From 
the period of the great Moslem conquests (700 a.d.) to the 

present day they have extended their language, 
rj h restntat^es re hgi° n > an( ^ culture over an enormous expanse 
Semnic h race. °f territory, tar surpassing that of all the ancient 

Semitic empires added together. It is true that 
the Arabs are no longer what they were in the Middle Ages, 
the ruling nation of the world, but loss of temporal power 
has only strengthened their spiritual dominion. Islam still 
reigns supreme in Western Asia ; in Africa it has steadily 
advanced ; even on European soil it has found in Turkey 
compensation for its banishment from Spain and Sicily. 
While most of the Semitic peoples have vanished, leaving but 
a meagre and ambiguous record, so that we cannot hope to 
become intimately acquainted with them, we possess in the 

antiquated. An interesting essay on the importance of the Semites in the 
history of civilisation was published by F. Hommel as an introduction to 
his Semitischen Volker und Sfirachen, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates 
in this table are of course only approximate. 



INTRODUCTION 



xvii 



case of the Arabs ample materials for studying almost every 
phase of their development since the sixth century of the 
Christian era, and for writing the whole history of their 
national life and thought. This book, I need hardly say, 
makes no such pretensions. Even were the space at 
my disposal unlimited, a long time must elapse before 
the vast and various field of Arabic literature can be 
thoroughly explored and the results rendered accessible to 
the historian. 

From time immemorial Arabia was divided into North and 
South, not only by the trackless desert (al-Rub' al-Khalt^ the 
4 Solitary Quarter') which stretches across the 
NorthandSouth. peninsula and forms a natural barrier to inter- 
course, but also by the opposition of two kindred 
races widely differing in their character and way of life. 
Whilst the inhabitants of the northern province (the Hijaz 
and the great central highland of Najd) were rude nomads 
sheltering in 'houses of hair,' and ever shifting to and fro 
in search of pasture for their camels, the people of Yemen 
or Arabia Felix are first mentioned in history as the inheritors 
of an ancient civilisation and as the owners of fabulous wealth 
— spices, gold and precious stones — which ministered to the 
luxury of King Solomon. The Bedouins of the North spoke 
Arabic — that is to say, the language of the Pre-islamic poems 
and of the Koran — whereas the southerners used a dialect 
called by Muhammadans 4 Himyarite ' and a peculiar script 
of which the examples known to us have been discovered and 
deciphered in comparatively recent times. Of these Sabaeans 
— to adopt the designation given to them by Greek and 
Roman geographers — more will be said presently. The 
period of their bloom was drawing to a close in the early 
centuries of our era, and they have faded out of history 
before 600 a.d., when their northern neighbours first rise 
into prominence. 

It was, no doubt, the consciousness of this racial distinction 

I* 



xviii 



INTRODUCTION 



that caused the view to prevail among Moslem genealogists 
that the Arabs followed two separate lines of descent from 

their common ancestor, Sam b. Niih (Shem, 
Ish Yo a qtdnfds nd ^ son °^ Noah). As regards those of the 

North, their derivation from 'Adnan, a de- 
scendant of Ismail (Ishmael) was universally recognised ; those 
of the South were traced back to Qahtan, whom most 
genealogists identified with Yoqt&n ( Joktan), the son of 'Abir 
(Eber). Under the Yoqtanids, who are the elder line, we 
find, together with the Sabaeans and Himyarites, several large 
and powerful tribes — e.g. y Tayyi', Kinda, and Tanukh — 
which had settled in North and Central Arabia long before 
Islam, and were in no respect distinguishable from the 
Bedouins of Ishmaelite origin. As to c Adnan, his exact 
genealogy is disputed, but all agree that he was of the 
posterity of Isma'fl (Ishmael), the son of Ibrahim (Abraham) 
by Hajar (Hagar). The story runs that on the birth of 
Isma'fl God commanded Abraham to journey to Mecca with 
Hagar and her son and to leave them there. They were seen 
by some Jurhumites, descendants of Yoqtan, who took pity 
on them and resolved to settle beside them. Ismi'fl grew up 
with the sons of the strangers, learned to shoot the bow, and 
spoke their tongue. Then he asked of them in marriage, 
and they married him to one of their women. 1 The tables 
on the opposite page show the principal branches of the 
younger but by far the more important family of the Arabs 
which traced its pedigree through 'Adnan to Isma'il. A 
dotted line indicates the omission 01 one or more links in 
the genealogical chain. 2 

1 Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Ma l drij, ed. by Wiistenfeld, p. 18. 

2 Full information concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found 
in Wiistenf eld's Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stamme und 
Familien with its excellent Register (Gottingen, 1852-1853). 



INTRODUCTION 



xix 



I. 

The Descendants of Rabi'a. 
'Adnan. 

I 

Ma'add. 

I, 

Nizar. 

I 

Rabi'a. 



'Anaza. 



Bakr. 



Wa'il. 



I 

Taghlib. 



Namir. 



II. 

The Descendants of Mudar. 
'Adnan. 
Ma'add. 

I, 

Nizar. 
Mudar. 



Qays 'Aylan. 



Ghatafan. 



Abs. Dhubyan. 



Dabba. 



Tamim. 



I I. 

Sulaym. Hawazin. 




Hudhayl. 



Asad. Kinana. 



Fihr (Quraysh). 



1 The tribes Dabba, Tamim, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, Kinana, and Quraysh 
together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often distinguished 
from Qays 'Ay lan. 



XX 



INTRODUCTION 



It is undeniable that these lineages are to some extent 
fictitious. There was no Pre-islamic science of genealogy, 
so that the first Muhammadan investigators had only con- 
fused and scanty traditions to work on. They were biassed, 
moreover, by political, religious, and other con- 

Character of . ' 3 * • t 

Muhammadan siderations. 1 Thus their study of the Koran 

genealogy. J 

and of Biblical history led to the introduction 
of the patriarchs who stand at the head of their lists. Nor 
can we accept the national genealogy beginning with 'Adnan 
as entirely historical, though a great deal of it was actually 
stored in the memories of the Arabs at the time when Islam 
arose, and is corroborated by the testimony of the Pre-islamic 
poets. 2 On the other hand, the alleged descent of every 
tribe from an eponymous ancestor is inconsistent with facts 
established by modern research.3 It is probable that many 
names represent merely a local or accidental union ; and 
many more, e.g., Ma'add, seem originally to have denoted 
large groups or confederations of tribes. The theory of 
a radical difference between the Northern Arabs and those 
of the South, corresponding to the fierce hostility which 
has always divided them since the earliest days of Islam,4 
may hold good if we restrict the term ' Yemenite ' 
(Southern) to the civilised Sabaeans, Himyarites, &c, who 
dwelt in Yemen and spoke their own dialect, but 
can hardly apply to the Arabic-speaking c Yemenite ' 
Bedouins scattered all over the peninsula. Such criticism, 
however, does not affect the value of the genealogical 
documents regarded as an index of the popular mind. From 
this point of view legend is often superior to fact, and it 
must be our aim in the following chapters to set forth what 



1 Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 133 sqq., 177 sqq. 

2 Noldeke in Z.D.M.G., vol. 40, p. 177. 

3 See Margoliouth, Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, p. 4. 

4 Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher, 
of. cit, Part I, p. 78 sqq. 



INTRODUCTION 



xxi 



the Arabs believed rather than to examine whether or no 
they were justified in believing it. 

'Arabic,' in its widest signification, has two principal 
dialects : — 

1. South Arabic, spoken inj Yemen and including Sabaean, 
Himyarite, Minaean, with the kindred dialects of Mahra 
and Shihr. 

2. Arabic proper, spoken in Arabia generally, exclusive 
of Yemen. 

Of the former language we possess nothing beyond the 
numerous inscriptions which have been collected by European 
travellers and which it will be convenient to 

South Arabic. 

discuss in the next chapter, where I shall give 
a brief sketch of the legendary history of the Sabaeans and 
Himyarites. South Arabic resembles Arabic in its gram- 
matical forms, e,g., the broken plural, the sign of the dual, and 
the manner of denoting indefiniteness by an affixed m (for 
which Arabic substitutes n) as well as in its vocabulary ; its 
alphabet, which consists of twenty-nine letters, Sin and Samech 
being distinguished as in Hebrew, is more nearly akin to the 
^Ethiopia The Himyarite Empire was overthrown by the 
Abyssinians in the sixth century after Christ, and by 600 a.d. 
South Arabic had become a dead language. From this time 
forward the dialect of the North established an almost 
universal supremacy and won for itself the title of i Arabic ' 
par excellence.* 

The oldest monuments of written Arabic are modern in 
date compared with the Sabaean inscriptions, some of which 
take us back 2,500 years or thereabout. Apart 

The oldest r , * V - TT .. . , . 

specimens of from the inscriptions or Hijr in the northern 

Hijdz, and those of Safd in the neighbourhood of 

Damascus (which, although written by northern Arabs before 

the Christian era, exhibit a peculiar character not unlike the 

1 The word 4 Arabic ' is always to be understood in this sense 
wherever it occurs in the following pages. 



xxii 



INTRODUCTION 



Sabsean and cannot be called Arabic in the usual acceptation 
of the term), the most ancient examples of Arabic writing 
which have hitherto been discovered appear in the trilingual 
(Syriac, Greek, and Arabic) inscription of Zabad, 1 south-east of 
Aleppo, dated 512 or 513 a.d., and the bilingual (Greek and 
Arabic) of Harran, 2 dated 568 a.d. With these documents we 
need not concern ourselves further, especially as their 
interpretation presents great difficulties. Very few among 
the Pre-islamic Arabs were able to read or write.3 Those who 
could generally owed their skill to Jewish and Christian 
teachers, or to the influence of foreign culture radiating 
from Hira and Ghassdn. But although the Koran, which 
was first collected soon after the battle of Yam&ma (633 
a.d.), is the oldest Arabic book, the beginnings of literary 
composition in the Arabic language can be traced back to 
an earlier period. Trobably all the Pre-islamic poems which 
have come down to us belong to the century preceding 
Islam (500-622 a.d.), but their elaborate form and technical 
perfection forbid the hypothesis that in them we have "the 
first sprightly runnings " of Arabian song. It may be said of 

these magnificent odes, as of the Iliad and 
The poIms amic Odyssey, that « they are works of highly finished 

art, which could not possibly have been produced 
until the poetical art had been practised for a long time." 
They were preserved during hundreds of years by oral tradition, 
as we shall explain elsewhere, and were committed to writing, 
for the most part, by the Moslem scholars of the early 
'Abbasid age, i.e., between 750 and 900 a.d. It is a note- 
worthy fact that the language of these poems, the authors of 
which represent many different tribes and districts of the 

1 First published by Sachau in Monatsberichte der Ron. Preuss. Akad. 
der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (February, 1881), p. 169 sqq. 

2 See De Vogue, Syrie Centrale, Inscriptions Semitiques, p. 117. Other 
references are given in Z.D.M.G., vol. 35, p. 749. 

3 On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher, Muhammedanische 
Studien, Part I, p. no sqq. 



INTRODUCTION 



xxiii 



peninsula, is one and the same. The dialectical variations 
are too trivial to be taken into account. We might conclude 
that the poets used an artificial dialect, not such as was 
commonly spoken but resembling the epic dialect of Ionia 
which was borrowed by Dorian and iEolian bards. When 
we find, however, that the language in question is employed 
not only by the wandering troubadours, who were often men 
of some culture, and the Christian Arabs of Hira on the 
Euphrates, but also by goat-herds, brigands, and illiterate 
Bedouins of every description, there can be no room for doubt 
that in the poetry of the sixth century we hear the Arabic 
language as it was then spoken throughout the length and 
breadth of Arabia. The success of Muhammad and the 
conquests made by Islam under the Orthodox Caliphs gave 
an entirely new importance to this classical idiom. Arabic 
became the sacred language of the whole Moslem world. 

This was certainly due to the Koran : but, on 

The Koran. J ' 5 

the other hand, to regard the dialect of Mecca, 
in which the Koran is written, as the source and prototype 
of the Arabic language, and to call Arabic 6 the dialect of 
Quraysh,' is utterly to reverse the true facts of the case. 
Muhammad, as Noldeke has observed, took the ancient poetry 
for a model ; and in the early age of Islam it was the authority 
of the heathen poets (of whom Quraysh had singularly few) 
that determined the classical usage and set the standard of 
correct speech. Moslems, who held the Koran to be the 
Word of God and inimitable in point of style, naturally 
exalted the dialect of the Prophet's tribe above all others, even 
laying down the rule that every tribe spoke less purely in 
proportion to its distance from Mecca, but this view will not 
commend itself to the unprejudiced student. The Koran, 
however, exercised a unique influence on the history of the 
Arabic language and literature. We shall see in a subsequent 
chapter that the necessity of preserving the text of the Holy 
Book uncorrupted, and of elucidating its obscurities, caused 



xxiv 



INTRODUCTION 



the Moslems to invent a science of grammar and lexicography, 
and to collect the old Pre-Muhammadan poetry and traditions 
which must otherwise have perished. When the Arabs 
settled as conquerors in Syria and Persia and mixed with 
foreign peoples, the purity of the classical language could no 
longer be maintained. While in Arabia itself, especially 
among the nomads of the desert, little difference was felt, 
in the provincial garrison towns and great centres of industry 
like Basra and Kufa, where the population largely consisted 
of aliens who had embraced Islam and were rapidly being 
Arabicised, the door stood open for all sorts of depravation 
to creep in. Against this vulgar Arabic the 

Arabic in the . 

Mu |^rnadan philologists waged unrelenting war, and it was 
mainly through their exertions that the classical 
idiom triumphed over the dangers to which it was exposed. 
Although the language of the pagan Bedouins did not survive 
intact — or survived, at any rate, only in the mouths of pedants 
and poets — it became, in a modified form, the universal 
medium of expression among the upper classes of Muham- 
madan society. During the early Middle Ages it was spoken 
and written by all cultivated Moslems, of whatever nationality 
they might be, from the Indus to the Atlantic ; it was the 
language of the Court and the Church, of Law and 
Commerce, of Diplomacy and Literature and Science. When 
the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century swept away the 
'Abbdsid Caliphate, and therewith the last vestige of political 
unity in Islam, classical Arabic ceased to be the kqivt\ or 
' common dialect ' of the Moslem world, and was supplanted 
in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other Arabic-speaking countries 
by a vulgar colloquial idiom. In these countries, however, it 
is still the language of business, literature, and education, and 
we are told on high authority that even now it " is undergoing 
a renaissance, and there is every likelihood of its again 
becoming a great literary vehicle." 1 And if, for those 
1 Professor Margoliouth in J.R.A.S. for 1905, p. 418 



INTRODUCTION 



XXV 



Moslems who are not Arabs, it occupies relatively much 
the same position as Latin and Greek in modern European 
culture, we must not forget that the Koran, its most 
renowned masterpiece, is learned by every Moslem when 
he first goes to school, is repeated in his daily prayers, and 
influences the whole course of his life to an extent which the 
ordinary Christian can hardly realise. 

I hope that I may be excused for ignoring in a work 
such as this the scanty details regarding Ancient Arabian 
history which it is possible to glean from the Babylonian 
and Assyrian monuments, especially when the very uncertain 
nature of the evidence is taken into consideration. Any 
sketch that might be drawn of the Arabs, say from 2500 B.C. 
to the beginning of our era, would resemble a map of 
Cathay delineated by Sir John Mandeville. But amongst 
the shadowy peoples of the peninsula one, besides Saba and 
Himyar, makes something more than a transient impression. 
The Nabataeans (Nabat, pi. Anbdt) dwelt in towns, drove a 
flourishing trade long before the birth of Christ, and founded 
the kingdom of Petra, which attained a high 

The Nabatsans. ° ' b 

degree of prosperity and culture until it was 
annexed by Trajan in 105 a.d. These Nabataeans were 
Arabs and spoke Arabic, although in default of a script of their 
own they used Aramaic for writing. 1 Muhammadan authors 
identify them with the Aramaeans, but careful study of their 
inscriptions has shown that this view, which was accepted by 
Quatrem&re, 2 is erroneous. * The Book of Nabataean Agri- 
culture ' (Kitdbu 'l-Faldhat al-Nabatjyya\ composed in 904 a.d. 
by the Moslem Ibnu 'l-Wahshiyya, who professed to have 
translated it from the Chaldaean, is now known to be a forgery. 
I only mention it here as an instance of the way in which 
Moslems apply the term ' Nabataean ' ; for the title in question 
does not, of course, refer to Petra but to Babylon. 

1 Noldeke, DieSemitischen Sprachen, p. 30 sqq. and p. 43. 

2 Journal Asiatique (March, 1835), p. 209 sqq. 



xxvi 



INTRODUCTION 



From what has been said the reader will perceive that the 
history of the Arabs, so far as our knowledge of it 
ArabfaS e his to?y. f * s derived from Arabic sources, may be divided 
into the following periods : — 
I. The Sabaean and Himyarite period, from 800 B.C., 
the date of the oldest South Arabic inscriptions, to 
500 A.D. 

II. The Pre-islamic period (500-622 a.d.). 

III. The Muhammadan period, beginning with the Flight 

(Hijra, or Hegira, as the word is generally written) 
of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina in 622 a.d. 
and extending to the present day. 
For the first period, which is confined to the history of Yemen 
or South Arabia, we have no contemporary Arabic sources 
except the inscriptions. The vague and scanty 

The Sabasans and • r »• . i_ 'r 1 • 11 

Himyarites. information which these supply is appreciably 
increased by the traditions preserved in the Pre- 
islamic poems, in the Koran, and particularly in the later 
Muhammadan literature. It is true that most of this material 
is legendary and would justly be ignored by any one engaged 
in historical research, but I shall nevertheless devote a 
good deal of space to it, since my principal object is to make 
known the beliefs and opinions of the Arabs themselves. 

The second period is called by Muhammadan writers the 
Jdhiliyya^ i.e. y the Age of Ignorance or Barbarism. 1 Its 
characteristics are faithfully and vividly reflected 
Th ArabJ? an m tne songs and odes of the heathen poets which 
have come down to us. There was no prose 
literature at that time : it was the poet's privilege to sing the 
history of his own people, to record their genealogies, to cele- 
brate their feats of arms, and to extol their virtues. Although 
an immense quantity of Pre-islamic verse has been lost for ever, 

1 Strictly speaking, the Jdhiliyya includes the whole time between 
Adam and Muhammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here 
to denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature. 



INTRODUCTION 



xxvii 



we still possess a considerable remnant, which, together with 
the prose narratives compiled by Moslem philologists and 
antiquaries, enables us to picture the life of those wild days, 
in its larger aspects, accurately enough. 

The last and by far the most important of the three periods 
comprises the history of the Arabs under Islam. It falls 

naturally into the following sections, which are 
Arabs. enumerated in this place in order that the reader 

may see at a glance the broad political outlines 
of the complex and difficult epoch which lies before him. 

A. The Life of Muhammad. 

About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian 
era a man named Muhammad, son of 'Abdullah, of the tribe 
Quraysh, appeared in Mecca with a Divine 
Muhammad, revelation (Koran). He called on his fellow- 
townsmen to renounce idolatry and worship the 
One God. In spite of ridicule and persecution he continued 
for several years to preach the religion of Islam in Mecca, but, 
making little progress there, he fled in 622 a.d. to the neigh- 
bouring city of Medina. From this date his cause prospered 
exceedingly. During the next decade the whole of Arabia 
submitted to his rule and did lip-service at least to the new 
Faith. 



B. The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 a.d.). 

On the death of the Prophet the Moslems were governed 
in turn by four of the most eminent among his Companions — 
Abu Bakr, 'Umar, c Uthman, and 'AH — who bore 
The cSiphs. dox the title of Khalifa (Caliph), i.e., Vicegerent, and 
are commonly described as the Orthodox Caliphs 
(al-Khulafa al-Rdshidun). Under their guidance Islam was 
firmly established in the peninsula and was spread far beyond 
its borders. Hosts of Bedouins settled as military colonists in 
the fertile plains of Syria and Persia. Soon, however, the 



xxviii 



INTRODUCTION 



recently founded empire was plunged into civil war. The 
murder of 'Uthman gave the signal for a bloody strife between 
rival claimants of the Caliphate. 4 AH, the son-in-law of the 
Prophet, assumed the title, but his election was contested by 
the powerful governor of Syria, Mu'awiya b. Abl Sufyan. 

C. The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 a.d.). 

'AH fell by an assassin's dagger, and Mu'awiya succeeded to 
the Caliphate, which remained in his family for ninety years. 

The Umayyads, with a single exception, were 
Th dynSty. yad Arabs first and Moslems afterwards. Religion 

sat very lightly on them, but they produced some 
able and energetic princes, worthy leaders of an imperial race. 
By 732 a.d. the Moslem conquests had reached the utmost 
limit which they ever attained. The Caliph in Damascus had 
his lieutenants beyond the Oxus and the Pyrenees, on the shores 
of the Caspian and in the valley of the Nile. Meantime the 
strength of the dynasty was being sapped by political and 
religious dissensions nearer home. The Shf'ites, who held that 
the Caliphate belonged by Divine right to C AK and his de- 
scendants, rose in revolt again and again. They were joined 
by the Persian Moslems, who loathed the Arabs and the 
oppressive Umayyad government. The 'Abbasids, a family 
closely related to the Prophet, put themselves at the head of 
the agitation. It ended in the complete overthrow of the 
reigning house, which was almost exterminated. 

D. The 'Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 a.d.). 

Hitherto the Arabs had played a dominant r61e in the 
Moslem community, and had treated the non-Arab Moslems 
with exasperating contempt. Now the tables were 
T dynlst y asid turned. We pass from the period of Arabian 
nationalism to one of Persian ascendancy and 
cosmopolitan culture. The flower of the 'Abbasid troops 
were Persians from Khurasan ; Baghdad, the wonderful 



INTRODUCTION 



xxix 



'Abbasid capital, was built on Persian soil ; and Persian nobles 
filled the highest offices of state at the 'Abbasid court. The 
new dynasty, if not religious, was at least favourable to 
religion, and took care to live in the odour of sanctity. For a 
time Arabs and Persians forgot their differences and worked 
together as good Moslems ought. Piety was no longer its 
own reward. Learning enjoyed munificent patronage. This 
was the Golden Age of Islam, which culminated in the glorious 
reign of Harun al-Rashfd (786-809 a.d.). On his death 
peace was broken once more, and the mighty empire began 
slowly to collapse. As province after province cut itself loose 
from the Caliphate, numerous independent dynasties sprang up, 
while the Caliphs became helpless puppets in the hands of 
Turkish mercenaries. Their authority was still formally 
recognised in most Muhammadan countries, but since the 
middle of the ninth century they had little or no real 
power. 

E. From the Mongol invasion to the present day (1258 
a.d. — ). 

The Mongol hordes under Hulagu. captured Baghdad in 
1258 A.D. and made an end of the Caliphate. Sweeping 

onward, they were checked by the Egyptian 
T goiian p S eriJd Q Mamelukes and retired into Persia, where, some 

fifty years afterwards, they embraced Islam. The 
successors of Hulagu, the Il-khans, reigned in Persia until a 
second wave of barbarians under Timur spread devastation and 
anarchy through Western Asia (1380- 1405 a.d.). The unity 
of Islam, in a political sense, was now destroyed. Out of the 
chaos three Mubammadan empires gradually took shape. In 
1358 the Ottoman Turks crossed the Hellespont, in 1453 
they entered Constantinople, and in 15 17 Syria, Egypt, and 
Arabia were added to their dominions. Persia became an 
independent kingdom under the Safawids (1 502-1 736) ; while 
in India the empire of the Great Moguls was founded by Babar, 



XXX 



INTRODUCTION 



a descendant of Timur, and gloriously maintained by his 
successors, Akbar and Awrangzib (1525-1707). 

Some of the political events which have been summarised 
above will be treated more fully in the body of this work ; 

others will receive no more than a passing notice. 
Arab wstory erary The ideas which reveal themselves in Arabic 

literature are so intimately connected with the 
history of the people, and so incomprehensible apart from the 
external circumstances in which they arose, that I have found 
myself obliged to dwell at considerable length on various 
matters of historical interest, in order to bring out what is really 
characteristic and important from our special point of view. 
The space devoted to the early periods (500-750 a.d.) will not 
appear excessive if they are seen in their true light as the 
centre and heart of Arabian history. During the next hundred 
years Moslem civilisation reaches its zenith, but the Arabs 
recede more and more into the background. The Mongol 
invasion virtually obliterated their national life, though in 
Syria and Egypt they formed an intellectual aristocracy under 
Turkish rule, and in Spain we meet them struggling despe- 
rately against Christendom. Many, centuries earlier, in the 
palmy days of the 'Abbasid Empire, the Arabs pur sang con- 
tributed only a comparatively small share to the literature 
which bears their name. I have not, however, enforced the 
test of nationality so strictly as to exclude all foreigners or 
men of mixed origin who wrote in Arabic. It may be said 

that the work of Persians (who even nowadays 
writers who are are accustomed to use Arabic when writing on 

wholly or partly ° 

° f tradfon eX " tne °l°gi ca l an( l philosophical subjects) cannot 
illustrate the history of Arabian thought, but 
only the influence exerted upon Arabian thought by Persian 
ideas, and that consequently it must stand aside unless admitted 
for this definite purpose. But what shall we do in the case of 
those numerous and celebrated authors who are neither wholly 



INTRODUCTION 



xxxi 



Arab nor wholly Persian, but unite the blood of both races ? 
Must we scrutinise their genealogies and try to discover which 
strain preponderates ? That would be a tedious and unprofit- 
able task. The truth is that after the Umayyad period no 
hard-and-fast line can be drawn between the native and foreign 
elements in Arabic literature. Each reacted on the other, and 
often both are combined indissolubly. Although they must be 
distinguished as far as possible, we should be taking a narrow 
and pedantic view of literary history if we insisted on regarding 
them as mutually exclusive. 



CHAPTER I 



SABA AND HIMYAR 

With the Sabaeans Arabian history in the proper sense may- 
be said to begin, but as a preliminary step we must take 

account of certain races which figure more or less 
Prin J. itive prominently in legend, and are considered by 

Moslem chroniclers to have been the original 
inhabitants of the country. Among these are the peoples of 
c Ad and Thamud, which are constantly held up in the Koran 
as terrible examples of the pride that goeth before destruction. 
The home of the 'Adites was in Hadramawt, the province 
adjoining Yemen, on the borders of the desert named Ahqafu 
'l-Raml. It is doubtful whether they were Semites, possibly 
of Aramaic descent, who were subdued and exterminated by 
invaders from the north, or, as Hommel maintains, 1 the 

representatives of an imposing non - Semitic 

Legend of 'Ad. \ . . f • c 

culture which survives in the tradition or 
6 Many-columned Iram,' 2 the Earthly Paradise built by 
Shadddd, one of their kings. The story of their destruction 
is related as follows : 3 They were a people of gigantic 
strength and stature, worshipping idols and committing all 

1 Die Namen der S&ugethiere bet den Siidsemitischen Volkern, p. 343 seq. 

2 Iramu Dhdtu 'l J Imdd (Koran, lxxxix, 6). The sense of these words is 
much disputed. See especially Tabari's explanation in his great com- 
mentary on the Koran (O. Loth in Z.D.M.G., vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.). 

3 I have abridged Tabarf, Annals, i, 231 sqq. Cf. also chapters vii, xi, 
xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran. 



2 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



manner of wrong ; and when God sent to them a prophet, 
Hud by name, who should warn them to repent, they 
answered : " O Hud, thou hast brought us no evidence, 
and we will not abandon our gods for thy saying, nor will we 
believe in thee. We say one of our gods hath afflicted thee 
with madness." 1 Then a fearful drought fell upon the land 
of c Ad, so that they sent a number of their chief men to 
Mecca to pray for rain. On arriving at Mecca the envoys 
were hospitably received by the Amalekite prince, Mu'awiya 
b. Bakr, who entertained them with wine and music — for he 
had two famous singing-girls known as al-Jaradatan ; which 
induced them to neglect their mission for the space of a whole 
month. At last, however, they got to business, and their 
spokesman had scarce finished his prayer when three clouds 
appeared, of different colours — white, red, and black — and a 
voice cried from heaven, " Choose for thyself and for thy 
people ! " He chose the black cloud, deeming that it had the 
greatest store of rain, whereupon the voice chanted — 

" Thou hast chosen embers dun | that will spare of 'Ad not one [ 
that will leave nor father nor son | ere him to death they shall have 
done." 

Then God drove the cloud until it stood over the land of 'Ad, 
and there issued from it a roaring wind that consumed the 
whole people except a few who had taken the prophet's 
warning to heart and had renounced idolatry. 

From these, in course of time, a new people arose, who are 
called 4 the second 'Ad.' They had their settlements in 
Yemen, in the region of Saba. The building of the great 
Dyke of Ma'rib is commonly attributed to their king, 
Luqman b. 'Ad, about whom many fables are told. He was 
surnamed ' The Man of the Vultures ' (Dhu 'l-Nusiir\ 
because it had been granted to him that he should live as 
long as seven vultures, one after the other. 

1 Koran, xi, 56-57- 



THE LEGEND OF l AD AND THAMIJD 3 



In North Arabia, between the Hijaz and Syria, dwelt the 
kindred race of Thamud, described in the Koran (vii, 72) as 
inhabiting houses which they cut for themselves 

Thimdd° f * n the roc ^ s » Evidently Muhammad did not 
know the true nature of the hewn chambers 
which are still to be seen at Hijr (Mada'in Salih), a week's 
journey northward from Medina, and which are proved by 
the Nabataean inscriptions engraved on them to have been 
sepulchral monuments. 1 Thamud sinned in the same way 
as 'Ad, and suffered a like fate. They scouted the prophet 
Salih, refusing to believe in him unless he should work a 
miracle. Salih then caused a she-camel big with young to come 
forth from a rock, and bade them do her no hurt, but one of 
the miscreants, Qudar the Red (al-Ahmar), hamstrung and 
killed her. "Whereupon a great earthquake overtook them 
with a noise of thunder, and in the morning they lay dead in 
their houses, flat upon their breasts." 2 The author of this 
catastrophe became a byword : Arabs say, " More unlucky 
than the hamstringer of the she-camel," or " than Ahmar of 
Thamud." It should be pointed out that, unlike the 'Adites, 
of whom we find no trace in historical times, the Thamudites 
are mentioned as still existing by Diodorus Siculus and 
Ptolemy ; and they survived down to the fifth century a.d. 
in the corps of equites Thamudeni attached to the army of the 
Byzantine emperors. 

Besides 'Ad and Thamud, the list of primitive races 
includes the 'Amallq (Amalekites) — a purely fictitious term 
under which the Moslem antiquaries lumped 
together several peoples of an age long past, 
e.g. y the Canaanites and the Philistines. We hear of Amale- 
kite settlements in the Tihama (Netherland) of Mecca and 
in other parts of the peninsula. Finally, mention should 

1 See Doughty's Documents Epigmfihiques recueillis dans le nord de 
I'Arabie, p. 12 sqq. 

2 Koran, vii, 76. 



4 



SABA AND H1MYAR 



be made of Tasm and Jadls, sister tribes of which nothing 
is recorded except the fact of their destruction and the 
events that brought it about. The legendary 

Tasm and Jadis. . . ° 7 

narrative in which these are embodied has some 
archaeological interest as showing the existence in early- 
Arabian society of a barbarous feudal custom, c le droit du 
seigneur,' but it is time to pass on to the main subject of 
this chapter. 

The Pre-islamic history of the Yoqtanids, or Southern 
Arabs, on which we now enter, is virtually the history of 
two peoples, the Sabaeans and the Himyarites, 
H Yoq§nMs the f° rme d the successive heads of a South 

Arabian empire extending from the Red Sea to 
the Persian Gulf. 

Saba 1 (Sheba of the Old Testament) is often incorrectly 
used to denote the whole of Arabia Felix, whereas it was only 
one, though doubtless the first in power and 

The Sabaeans. ' to . r , 

importance, of several kingdoms, the names and 
capitals of which are set down in the works of Greek 
and Roman geographers. However exaggerated may be the 
glowing accounts that we find there of Sabaean wealth and 
magnificence, it is certain that Saba was a flourishing com- 
mercial state many centuries before the birth of Christ. 2 
" Sea-traffic between the ports of East Arabia and India was 
very early established, and Indian products, especially spices 
and rare animals (apes and peacocks) were conveyed to the 
coast of 'Uman. Thence, apparently even in the tenth century 
B.C., they went overland to the Arabian Gulf, where they 

1 Properly Saba' with hamza, both syllables being short. 

2 The oldest record of Saba to which a date can be assigned is found in 
the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. We read in the Annals of King 
Sargon (715 B.C.), " I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, 
of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the Sabaean — gold, spices, 
slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with Yatha'amar, a 
name borne by several kings of Saba. 



THE SABsEAN EMPIRE 



5 



were shipped to Egypt for the use of the Pharaohs and 
grandees. . . . The difficulty of navigating the Red Sea 
caused the land route to be preferred for the traffic between 
Yemen and Syria. From Shabwat (Sabota) in Hadramawt 
the caravan road went to Ma'rib (Mariaba), the Sabaean 
capital, then northward to Macoraba (the later Mecca), and 
by way of Petra to Gaza on the Mediterranean." 1 The 
prosperity of the Sabaeans lasted until the Indian trade, 
instead of going overland, began to go by sea along the coast 
of Hadramawt and through the straits of Bab al-Mandab. In 
consequence of this change, which seems to have taken place 
in the first century a.d., their power gradually declined, a 
great part of the population was forced to seek new homes in 
the north, their cities became desolate, and their massive 
aqueducts crumbled to pieces. We shall see presently that 
Arabian legend has crystallised the results of a long period of 
decay into a single fact — the bursting of the Dyke of Ma'rib. 

The disappearance of the Sabaeans left the way open for a 
younger branch of the same stock, namely, the Himyarites, 
or, as they are called by classical authors, 

The tfimyarites. . J \ 

Homentae, whose country lay between baba and 
the sea. Under their kings, known as Tubba's, they soon 
became the dominant power in South Arabia and exercised 
sway, at least ostensibly, over the northern tribes down to the 
end of the fifth century a.d., when the latter revolted and, led 
by Kulayb b. Rabi'a, shook off the suzerainty of Yemen in a 
great battle at Khazaza. 2 The Himyarites never flourished like 
the Sabaeans. Their maritime situation exposed them more to 
attack, while the depopulation of the country had seriously 
weakened their military strength. The Abyssinians — originally 
colonists from Yemen — made repeated attempts to gain a 

1 A. Muller, Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland, vol. i, p. 24 seq. 

8 Noldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as 
leading the Rabi'a clans to battle against the combined strength of Yemen 
to be entirely unhistorical {Fiinf Mo'allaqdt, i, 44). 



6 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



foothold, and frequently managed to instal governors who 
were in turn expelled by native princes. Of these Abyssinian 
viceroys the most famous is Abraha, whose unfortunate expedi- 
tion against Mecca will be related in due course. Ultimately 
the Himyarite Empire was reduced to a Persian dependency. 
It had ceased to exist as a political power about a hundred 
years before the rise of Islam. 

The chief Arabian sources of information concerning Saba 
and Himyar are (i) the so-called c Himyarite* inscriptions, 
and (2) the traditions, almost entirely of a legen- 
informatkm ^ ai T kind, which are preserved in Muhammadan 
literature. 

Although the South Arabic language may have maintained 
itself sporadically in certain remote districts down to the 
Prophet's time or even later, it had long ago been 

AraWc U or superseded as a medium of daily intercourse by 
ins S cript? n ns. th e language of the North, the Arabic par 
excellence^ which henceforth reigns without a rival 
throughout the peninsula. The dead language, however, did 
not wholly perish. Already in the sixth century a.d. the 
Bedouin rider made his camel kneel down while he stopped 
to gaze wonderingly at inscriptions in a strange character 
engraved on walls of rock or fragments of hewn stone, and 
compared the mysterious, half-obliterated markings to the 
almost unrecognisable traces of the camping-ground which 
for him was fraught with tender memories. These inscrip- 
tions are often mentioned by Muhammadan authors, who 
included them in the term Musnad. That some Moslems — 
probably very few — could not only read the South Arabic 
alphabet, but were also acquainted with the elementary rules 
of orthography, appears from a passage in the eighth book of 
Hamdanfs I kill ; but though they might decipher proper 
names and make out the sense of words here and there, they 
had no real knowledge of the language. How the inscriptions 
were discovered anew by the enterprise of European travellers, 



SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS 7 



gradually deciphered and interpreted until they became capable 
of serving as a basis for historical research, and what results 
the study of them has produced, this I shall now set forth as 
briefly as possible. Before doing so it is necessary to explain 
why instead of ' Himyarite inscriptions' and ' Himyarite 
language ' I have adopted the less familiar designations 6 South 
Arabic ' or ' Sabaean.' 4 Himyarite ' is equally misleading, 
whether applied to the language of the inscriptions or to the 
inscriptions themselves. As regards the language, it was 
ob . t< t spoken in one form or another not by the 
the term Himyarites alone, but also by the Sabseans, the 

' Himyarite.' * 

Minaeans, and all the different peoples of Yemen. 

Muhammadans gave the name of c Himyarite ' to the ancient 

language of Yemen for the simple reason that the Himyarites 

were the most powerful race in that country during the last 

centuries preceding Islam. Had all the inscriptions belonged 

to the period of Himyarite supremacy, they might with some 

justice have been named after the ruling people ; but the fact 

is that many date from a far earlier age, some going back to 

the eighth century B.C., perhaps nearly a thousand years before 

the Himyarite Empire was established. The term 1 Sabasan ' 

is less open to objection, for it may fairly be regarded as a 

national rather than a political denomination. On the whole, 

however, I prefer c South Arabic ' to either. 

Among the pioneers of exploration in Yemen the first to 

interest himself in the discovery of inscriptions was Carsten 

Niebuhr, whose Beschreibung von Arabien^ pub- 
Discovery and i*i 1 • i -r> 1 
decipherment lisned in 1 772, conveyed to iLurope the report 

Arabic that inscriptions which, though he had not seen 
inscriptions. t k em ^ con j ec t; ure d to be 'Himyarite,' existed 
in the ruins of the once famous city of Zafar. On one 
occasion a Dutchman who had turned Muhammadan showed 
him the copy of an inscription in a completely unknown 
alphabet, but "at that time (he says) being very ill with a 
violent fever, I had more reason to prepare myself for death 



8 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



than to collect old inscriptions." 1 Thus the opportunity was 
lost, but curiosity had been awakened, and in 1810 Ulrich 
Jasper Seetzen discovered and copied several inscriptions in the 
neighbourhood of Zafar. Unfortunately these copies, which 
had to be made hastily, were very inexact. He also purchased 
an inscription, which he took away with him and copied at 
leisure, but his ignorance of the character led him to mistake 
the depressions in the stone for letters, so that the conclusions 
he came to were naturally of no value. 2 The first serviceable 
copies of South Arabic inscriptions were brought to Europe by 
English officers employed on the survey of the southern and 
western coasts of Arabia. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted published 
the inscriptions of Hisn Ghurab and Naqb al-Hajar in his 
Travels in Arabia (1838). 

Meanwhile Emil Rodiger, Professor of Oriental Languages 
at Halle, with the help of two manuscripts of the Berlin Royal 
Library containing ' Himyarite ' alphabets, took the first step 
towards a correct decipherment by refuting the idea, for which 
De Sacy's authority had gained general acceptance, that the 
South Arabic script ran from left to right 3; he showed, moreover, 
that the end of every word was marked by a straight perpendi- 
cular line.4 Wellsted's inscriptions, together with those which 
Hulton and Cruttenden brought to light at San'a, were de- 
ciphered by Gesenius and Rodiger working independently 
(1841). Hitherto England and Germany had shared the 

1 Op. cit, p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in dis- 
covering and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the year 
1841 is given by Rodiger, Excurs ueber himjaritische Inschriften, in his 
German translation of Wellsted's Travels in Arabia, vol. ii, p. 368 sqq. 

2 Seetzen's inscriptions were published in Fundgruben des Orients, 
vol. ii (Vienna, 181 1), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was after- 
wards deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in the Z.D.M.G., vol. 31, 
p. 89 seq. 

3 The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from right 
to left alternately (fiovarpopridov). 

4 Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltetn Alphabet derselben 
in Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. i (Gottingen, 1837), 
p. 332 sqq. 



SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS g 



credit of discovery, but a few years later France joined 
hands with them and was soon leading the way with 
characteristic brilliance. In 1843 Th. Arnaud, starting from 
San'a, succeeded in discovering the ruins of Ma'rib, the ancient 
Sabaean metropolis, and in copying at the risk of his life 
between fifty and sixty inscriptions, which were afterwards 
published in the Journal Asiatique and found an able interpreter 
in Osiander. 1 Still more important were the results of the 
expedition undertaken in 1870 by Joseph HaleVy, who, dis- 
guised as a Jew, penetrated into the Jawf, or country lying 
east of San'a, which no European had traversed before him 
since 24 B.C., when iElius Gallus led a Roman army by the same 
route. After enduring great fatigues and meeting with many 
perilous adventures, Halevy brought back copies of nearly seven 
hundred inscriptions. 2 During the last twenty-five years much 
fresh material has been collected by E. Glaser and Julius 
Euting, while study of that already existing by Prastorius, 
Halevy, D. H. Miiller, Mordtmann, and other scholars has 
substantially enlarged our knowledge of the language, history, 
and religion of South Arabia in the Pre-islamic age. 

Neither the names of the Himyarite monarchs, as they 
appear in the lists drawn up by Muhammadan historians, nor 
the order in which these names are arranged can pretend to 
accuracy. If they are historical persons at all they must have 
reigned in fairly recent times, perhaps a short while before the 
rise of Islam, and probably they were unimportant princes 
whom the legend has thrown back into the ancient epoch, and 
has invested with heroic attributes. Any one who doubts this 
has only to compare the modern lists with those which have 
been made from the material in the inscriptions.3 D. H. 

1 See Arnaud's Relation d'un voyage a Mareb {Saba) dans 1' Arabic 
meridionale in the Journal Asiatique, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. 211 sqq. 
and p. 309 sqq. 

2 See Rapport sur une mission archeologique dans le Yemen in the 
Journal Asiatique, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, 489-547. 

3 See D. H. Miiller, Die Burgemund Schlosser Sudarabiens in S.B.W.A., 
vol. 97, p. 981 sqq. 



io SABA AND HIMYAR 

Miiller has collected the names of thirty-three Sabaean kings. 
Certain names are often repeated — a proof of the existence of 
ruling; dynasties — and ornamental epithets are 

The historical ,7 , , , r-~, n , t^, 

value of usually attached to them. Thus we find Dhamar- 

the inscriptions. . 

'all Dhirnh (Glorious), Yatha'amar Bayyin (Dis- 
tinguished), Kariba'Il Watdr Yuhan'im (Great, Beneficent), 
Samah c aH Yanuf (Exalted). Moreover, the kings bear 
different titles corresponding to three distinct periods of 
Sabaean history, viz., 6 Prince of Saba' (Mukarrib Saba)* 
' King of Saba' (Malk Saba)> and 'King of Saba and Raydan.' 
In this way it is possible to determine approximately the age of 
the various buildings and inscriptions, and to show that they 
do not belong, as had hitherto been generally supposed, to the 
time of Christ, but that in some cases they are at least eight 
hundred years older. 

How widely the peaceful, commerce-loving people of Saba 
and Himyar differed in character from the wild Arabs to 

whom Muhammad was sent appears most strikingly 
inscriptions. m t ^eir submissive attitude towards their gods, 

which forms, as Goldziher has remarked, the key- 
note of the South Arabian monuments. 2 The prince erects 
a thank-offering to the gods who gave him victory over his 
enemies ; the priest dedicates his children and all his posses- 
sions ; the warrior who has been blessed with " due man- 
slayings," or booty, or escape from death records his gratitude, 
and piously hopes for a continuance of favour. The dead are 
conceived as living happily under divine protection ; they are 
venerated and sometimes deified. 3 The following inscription, 



1 The name Mukarrib apparently combines the significations of prince 
and priest. 

2 Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 3. 

3 See F. Przetorius, Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei 
den Himyaren in Z.D.M.G., vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has 
given an interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the 
Southern Arabs in Weltgeschichtc in Karakterbildern : Mohammed (Munich, 
1904), p. 29 sqq. 



SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS u 



translated by Lieut.-Col. W. F. Prideaux, is a typical example 
of its class : — 

" Sa'd-ilah and his sons, Benu Marthad 5 ™, have endowed Il-Makah 
of Hirran with this tablet, because Il-Makah, lord of Awwam Dhu- 
'Iran Alu, has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him, and has 
consequently heard the Benu Marthad im when they offered the first- 
fruits of their fertile lands of Arhakim in the presence of Il-Makah 
of Hirran, and Il-Makah of Hirran has favourably heard the prayer 
addressed to him that he would protect the plains and meadows and 
this tribe in their habitations, in consideration of the frequent gifts 
throughout the year ; and truly his (Sa'd-ilah' s) sons will descend to 
Arhakim, and they will indeed sacrifice in the two shrines of 'Athtor 
and Shams™, and there shall be a sacrifice in Hirran — both in order 
that Il-Makah may afford protection to those fields of Bin Marthad im 
as well as that he may favourably listen — and in the sanctuary of 
Il-Makah of Harwat, and therefore may he keep them in safety 
according to the sign in which Sa'd-ilah was instructed, the sign 
which he saw in the sanctuary of Il-Makah of Na'man ; and as for 
Il-Makah of Hirran, he has protected those fertile lands of Arhakim 
from hail and from all misfortune (or, from cold and from all 
extreme heat). 1 

In concluding this very inadequate account of the South 
Arabic inscriptions I must claim the indulgence of my readers, 
who are aware how difficult it is to write clearly and accurately 
upon any subject without first-hand knowledge, in particular 
when the results of previous research are continually being 
transformed by new workers in the same field. 

Fortunately we possess a considerable literary supplement to 
these somewhat austere and meagre remains. Our knowledge 
of South Arabian geography, antiquities, and 

sourSZ legendary history is largely derived from the 
works of two natives of Yemen, who were filled 
with enthusiasm for its ancient glories, and whose writings, 
though different as fact and fable, are from the present point 
of view equally instructive — Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani and 

1 Transactions of the Society of Biblical Arcliceology, vol. 5, p. 409. 



12 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



Nash wan b. Sa'Id al-Himyan. Besides an excellent geography 
of Arabia [Sifatu Jazlrat al-^Arab), which has been edited by 
D. H. Miiller, Hamdani left a great work on 
({945 S.). tti e history and antiquities of Yemen, entitled 
al-Iklll (< The Crown '), and divided into ten 
books under the following heads : — 1 

Book I. Compendium of the beginning and origins of genealogy. 
Book II. Genealogy of the descendants of al-Hamaysa' b. Himyar. 
Book III. Concerning the pre-eminent qualities of Qahtdn. 
Book IV. Concerning the first period of history down to the reign of 

Tubba ( Abu Karib. 
Book V. Concerning the middle period from the accession of As' ad 

Tubba ( to the reign of Dhu Nuwds. 
Book VI. Concerning the last period down to the rise of Islam. 
Book VII. Criticism of false traditions and absurd legends. 
Book VIII. Concerning the castles, cities, and tombs of the Himyarites ; 

the extant poetry of 'Alqama, 2 the elegies, the inscriptions, 

and other matters. 
Book IX. Concerning the proverbs and wisdom of the Himyarites in the 

Himyarite language, and concerning the alphabet of the 

inscriptions. 

Book X. Concerning the genealogy of Hdshid and Bakil (the two 
principal tribes of Hamdan). 

The same intense patriotism which caused Hamdanf to devote 
himself to scientific research inspired Nashwan b. Sa'ld, who 
descended on the father's side from one of the 
Nas sS n b ' ancient princely families of Yemen, to recall the 
(+ i^Za). legendary past and become the laureate of a 
long vanished and well-nigh forgotten empire. 
In 'The Himyarite Ode' (al-Qasidatu U-Himyariyya) he sings 
the might and grandeur of the monarchs who ruled over his 
people, and moralises in true Muhammadan spirit upon the 

1 This table of contents is quoted by D. H. Miiller (Sudarabische 
Studicn, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of the 
eighth book of the IkUl. No complete copy of the work is known to 
exist, but considerable portions of it are preserved in the British Museum 
and in the Berlin Royal Library. 

2 The poet 'Alqama b. Dhi Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the 
commentary on the ' Himyarite Ode.' 



LITERARY MATERIALS 



*3 



fleetingness of life and the futility of human ambition. 1 
Accompanying the Ode, which has little value except as a 
comparatively unfalsified record of royal names, 2 is a copious 
historical commentary either by Nashwan himself, as Von 
Kremer thinks highly probable, or by some one who lived 
about the same time. Those for whom history represents an 
aggregate of naked facts would find nothing to the purpose in 
this commentary, where threads of truth are almost inextricably 
interwoven with fantastic and fabulous embroideries. A 
literary form was first given to such legends by the professional 
story-tellers of early Islam. One of these, the South Arabian 
'Abid b. Sharya, visited Damascus by command of the Caliph 
Mu'awiya I, who questioned him "concerning; 

Ibid b. Sharya. / • i , • e , * , j 

the ancient traditions, the kings of the Arabs and 
other races, the cause of the confusion of tongues, and the 
history of the dispersion of mankind in the various countries of 
the world,"3 and gave orders that his answers should be put 
together in writing and published under his name. This work, 
of which unfortunately no copy has come down to us, was 
entitled 'The Book of the Kings and the History of the 
Ancients' (Kitabu H-MuM wa-akhbdru U-Mddin). Mas'M 
(1956 a.d.) speaks of it as a well-known book, enjoying a wide 
circulation.4 It was used by the commentator of the Himyarite 
Ode, either at first hand or through the medium of Hamdani's 
Iklil. We may regard it, like the commentary itself, as a 
historical romance in which most of the characters and some of 
the events are real, adorned with fairy-tales, fictitious verses, 

1 Die Himjarische Kasideh herausgegeben und iibersetzt von Alfred von 
Kremer (Leipzig, 1865). The Lay of the Himyarites, by W. F. Prideaux 
(Sehore, 1879). 

2 Nashwan was a philologist of some repute. His great dictionary, the 
Shamsu 'l-'Ulum, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of South 
Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. Miiller to fix the correct 
spelling of proper names which occur in the Himyarite Ode (Z.D.M.G., 
vol. 29, p. 620 sqq. ; Sildarabische Studien, p. 143 sqq.). 

3 Fihrist, p. 89, 1. 26. 

4 Uuruju 'l-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 89. 



14 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



and such entertaining matter as a man of learning and story- 
teller by trade might naturally be expected to introduce. 
Among the few remaining Muhammadan authors who 
bestowed special attention on the Pre-islamic period of 

South Arabian history, I shall mention here only 
*isSSln. f Hamza of Isfahan, the eighth book of whose 

Annals (finished in 961 a.d.) provides a useful 
sketch, with brief chronological details, of the Tubba's or 
Himyarite kings of Yemen. 

Qahtan, the ancestor of the Southern Arabs, was succeeded 
by his son Ya c rub, who is said to have been the first to use the 
y t b Arabic language, and the first to receive the salu- 
tations with which the Arabs were accustomed 
to address their kings, viz., " InHm sabdh an " ("Good morn- 
ing!") and " Abayta 'I-Ia'na" ("Mayst thou avoid maledic- 
tion ! "). His grandson, c Abd Shams Saba, is named as the 
founder of Ma'rib and the builder of the famous Dyke, which, 
according to others, was constructed by Luqman b. c Ad. 
Saba had two sons, Himyar and Kahlan. Before his 
death he deputed the sovereign authority to Himyar, 
and the task of protecting the frontiers and making 
war upon the enemy to Kahlan. Thus Himyar 
? SL and obtained the lordship, assumed the title Abu 
Ayman, and abode in the capital city of the 
realm, while Kahlan took over the defence of the borders 
and the conduct of war. 1 Omitting the long series of mythical 
Sabaean kings, of whom the legend has little or nothing to 
relate, we now come to an event which fixed itself ineffaceably 
in the memory of the Arabs, and which is known in their 
traditions as Saylu U-Arim, or the Flood of the Dyke. 

1 Von Kremer, Die Sudarabische Sage, p. 56. Possibly, as he suggests 
(p. 115), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact that the 
Sabaeans were divided into two great tribes, Himyar and Kahlan, the 
former of which held the chief power. 



THE DYKE OF MA' RIB 15 

Some few miles south-west of Ma'rib the mountains draw 
together leaving a gap, through which flows the River Adana. 

During the summer its bed is often dry, but in the 
Th Ma5b.° f rainy season the water rushes down with such 
violence that it becomes impassable. In order to 
protect the city from floods, and partly also for purposes of 
irrigation, the inhabitants built a dam of solid masonry, which, 
long after it had fallen into ruin, struck the imagination of 
Muhammad, and was reckoned by Moslems among the wonders 
of the world. 1 That their historians have clothed the bare fact 
of its destruction in ample robes of legendary circumstance is 
not surprising, but renders abridgment necessary. 2 

Towards the end of the third century of our era, or possibly 
at an earlier epoch,3 the throne of Ma'rib was temporarily 
occupied by 'Amr b. 'Amir Ma' al-Sama, sur- 
announced by named Muzayqiya.4 His wife, Zarifa, was skilled 

portents. ^ e ^ ^ divination. She dreamed dreams and 
saw visions which announced the impending calamity. " Go 
to the Dyke," she said to her husband, who doubted her clair- 
voyance, "and if thou see a rat digging holes in the Dyke 
with its paws and moving huge boulders with its hind-legs, be 
assured that the woe hath come upon us." So 'Amr went to 

1 Cf. Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described by 
Arnaud in the Journal Asiatique, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 sqq. 

2 I follow Mas'udi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), 
vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and Nuwayri inReiske's Primes linece Hisiorice Rerum 
Arabicarum, p. 166 sqq. 

3 The story of the migration from Ma'rib, as related below, may have 
some historical basis, but the Dam itself was not finally destroyed until 
long afterwards. Inscriptions carved on the existing ruins show that it 
was more or less in working order down to the middle of the sixth 
century a.d. The first recorded flood took place in 447-450, and on 
another occasion (in 539-542) the Dam was partially reconstructed by 
Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen. See E. Glaser, Zwei Inschriften 
iiber den Dammbruch von Mdrib (Mitteilungen der V order asiatischen 
Gesellschaft, 1897, 6). 

4 He is said to have gained this sobriquet from his custom of tearing to 
pieces [mazaqa) every night the robe which he had worn during the day. 



i6 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



the Dyke and looked carefully, and lo, there was a rat moving 
an enormous rock which fifty men could not have rolled from 
its place. Convinced by this and other prodigies that the 
Dyke would soon burst and the land be laid waste, he resolved 
to sell his possessions and depart with his family ; and, lest 
conduct so extraordinary should arouse suspicion, he had re- 
course to the following stratagem. He invited the chief men 
of the city to a splendid feast, which, in accordance with a 
preconcerted plan, was interrupted by a violent altercation 
between himself and his son (or, as others relate, an orphan 
who had been brought up in his house). Blows were ex- 
changed, and c Amr cried out, "O shame ! on the day of my 
glory a stripling has insulted me and struck my face." He 
swore that he would put his son to death, but the guests 
entreated him to show mercy, until at last he gave way. 
"But by God," he exclaimed, "I will no longer remain in 
a city where I have suffered this indignity. I will sell my 
lands and my stock." Having successfully got rid of his 
encumbrances — for there was no lack of buyers eager to take 
him at his word — ( Amr informed the people of the danger with 
which they were threatened, and set out from Ma'rib at the 
head of a great multitude. Gradually the waters made a 
breach in the Dyke and swept over the country, spreading 
devastation far and wide. Hence the proverb Dhahabu (or 
tafarraqu) aydi Saba^ "They departed" (or "dispersed") "like 
the people of Saba." 1 

This deluge marks an epoch in the history of South Arabia. 

The waters subside, the land returns to cultivation 
F iab2an e and prosperity, but Ma'rib lies desolate, and the 
Empire. S aDaeans have disappeared for ever, except " to 
point a moral or adorn a tale." Al-A c sha sang : — 

Metre Mutaqdrib : | ^ | w j — — ). 



1 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 497. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE DYKE 17 



" Let this warn whoever a warning will take — 
And Ma'rib withal, which the Dam fortified. 
Of marble did Himyar construct it, so high, 
The waters recoiled when to reach it they tried. 
It watered their acres and vineyards, and hour 
By hour, did a portion among them divide. 
So lived they in fortune and plenty until 
Therefrom turned away by a ravaging tide. 
Then wandered their princes and noblemen through 
Mirage-shrouded deserts that baffle the guide." 1 

The poet's reference to Himyar is not historically accurate. 
It was only after the destruction of the Dyke and the dispersion 
of the Sabaeans who built it 2 that the Himyarites, with their 
capital Zafar ( at a later period, San'a) became the rulers of Yemen. 

The first Tubba', by which name the Himyarite kings are 
known to Muhammadan writers, was Harith, called al-Rd'ish, 
i.e., the Featherer, because he ' feathered ' his 
people's nest with the booty which he brought 
home as a conqueror from India and Adharbayjan.3 Of the 
Tubba's who come after him some obviously owe their place 
in the line of Himyar to genealogists whose respect for the 
Koran was greater than their critical acumen. Such a man of 
straw is Sa'b Dhu '1-Qarnayn (Sa'b the Two-horned). 

The following verses show that he is a double of the 
mysterious Dhu '1-Qarnayn of Koranic legend, 

Dhu '1-Qarnayn. J ^ J to \ 

supposed by most commentators to be identical 
with Alexander the Great 4 : — 

1 Hamdam, Iklil, bk. via, edited by D. H. Muller in S.B.W.A. (Vienna, 
1881), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some textual differences 
by Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Bulddn, ed. by Wustenfeld, vol. iv, 387, and Ibn 
Hisham, p. 9. 

2 The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders 
described by Arnaud : " Yatha'amar Bayyin, son of Samah'aH Yanuf, 
Prince of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the 
flood-gates (called) Rahab for convenience of irrigation." I translate after 
D. H. Muller, loc. laud., p. 965. 

3 The words Himyar and Tubba 1 do not occur at all in the older inscrip- 
tions, and very seldom even in those of a more recent date. 

4 See Koran, xviii, 82-98. 

3 



i8 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



" Ours the realm of Dhu 'l-Qarnayn the glorious, 
Realm like his was never won by mortal king. 
Followed he the Sun to view its setting 
When it sank into the sombre ocean-spring ; 
Up he clomb to see it rise at morning, 
From within its mansion when the East it fired ; 
All day long the horizons led him onward, 1 
All night through he watched the stars and never tired. 
Then of iron and of liquid metal 
He prepared a rampart not to be o'erpassed, 
Gog and Magog there he threw in prison 
Till on Judgment Day they shall awake at last." 2 

Similarly, among the Tubba's we find the Queen of Sheba, 
whose adventures with Solomon are related in the twenty- 
seventh chapter of the Koran. Although Muh- 
ammad himself did not mention her name or 
lineage, his interpreters were equal to the occasion and revealed 
her as Bilqfs, the daughter of Sharahll (Sharahbfl). 

The national hero of South Arabian legend is the Tubba* 

1 Dhu 'l-Qarnayn is described as " the measurer of the earth " (Massdhu 
'l-ard) by Hamdani, Jaziratu 'I- 1 Arab, p. 46, 1. 10. If I may step for a 
moment outside the province of literary history to discuss the mythology of 
these verses, it seems to me more than probable that Dhu 'l-Qarnayn is a 
personification of the Sabaean divinity 'Athtar, who represents "sweet 
Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. Miiller in S.B.W.A., vol. 97, 
p. 973 seq.). The Minasan inscriptions have " 'Athtar of the setting and 
'Athtar of the rising" (ibid., p. 1033). Moreover, in the older inscriptions 
'Athtar and Almaqa are always mentioned together ; and Almaqa, which 
according to Hamdani is the name of Venus (al-Zuhara), was identified by 
Arabian archaeologists with Bilqfs. For qarn in the sense of 'ray' or 
'beam' see Goldziher, Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I, p. 114. I 
think there is little doubt that Dhu 'l-Qarnayn and Bilqis may be added to 
the examples [ibid., p. 111 sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many 
heathen deities were enabled to maintain themselves under various dis- 
guises within the pale of Islam. 

2 The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer's Altarabische Gedichic 
ueber die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 15 (No. viii, 1. 6 sqq.). Hassan b. Thabit, 
the author of these lines, was contemporary with Muhammad, to whose 
cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. In the verses imme- 
diately preceding those translated above he claims to be a descendant of 
Qahtan. 



THE TUBE A 1 AS 1 AD KAM1L 19 



As'ad Kamil, or, as he is sometimes called, Abu Karib. Even 
at the present day, says Von Kremer, his memory is kept alive, 

and still haunts the ruins of his palace at Zafar. 

" No one who reads the Ballad of his Adven- 
tures or the words of exhortation which he addressed on his 
death-bed to his son Hassan can escape from the conviction that 
here we have to do with genuine folk-poetry — fragments of a 
South Arabian legendary cycle, the beginnings of which un- 
doubtedly reach back to a high antiquity." 1 I translate here 
the former of these pieces, which may be entitled 

THE BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES. 3 

" Time brings to pass full many a wonder 
Whereof the lesson thou must ponder. 
Whilst all to thee seems ordered fair, 
Lo, Fate hath wrought confusion there. 
Against a thing foredoomed to be 
Nor cunning nor caution helpeth thee. 
Now a marvellous tale will I recite ; 
Trust me to know and tell it aright ! 

Once on a time was a boy of Asd 
Who became the king of the land at last, 
Born in Hamdan, a villager ; 
The name of that village was Khamir. 
This lad in the pride of youth defied 
His friends, and they with scorn replied. 
None guessed his worth till he was grown 
Ready to spring. 

1 Von Kremer, Die Sudarabische Sage, p. vii of the Introduction. 

2 A prose translation is given by Von Kremer, ibid., p. 78 sqq. The 
Arabic text which he published afterwards in Altarabische Gedichte ueber 
die Volkssage von Jemen, p. 18 sqq., is corrupt in some places and incorrect in 
others. I have followed Von Kremer s interpretation except when it seemed 
to me to be manifestly untenable. The reader will have no difficulty in 
believing that this poem was meant to be recited by a wandering minstrel 
to the hearers that gathered round him at nightfall. It may well be the 
composition of one of those professional story-tellers who flourished in 
the first century after the Flight, such as 'Abid b. Sharya (see p. 13 supra), 
or Yazid b. Rabi'a b. Mufarrigh (f 688 a.d.), who is said to have invented 
the poems and romances of the Himyarite kings [Aghdni, xvii, 52). 



20 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



One morn, alone 
On Hinwam hill he was sore afraid. 1 
(His people knew not where he strayed ; 
They had seen him only yesternight, 
For his youth and wildness they held him light. 
The wretches ! Him they never missed 
Who had been their glory had they wist). 

O the fear that fell on his heart when he 

Saw beside him the witches three ! 

The eldest came with many a brew — 

In some was blood, blood-dark their hue. 

' Give me the cup ! ' he shouted bold ; 

'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold. 

She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink 

Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink. 

Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced 

Like a lion with anger in his breast. 

'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, 

' For asses are worst of steeds to ride.' 

"Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank 

O'er a hyena lean and lank, 

But the brute so fiercely flung him away, 

With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay. 

Then came the youngest and tended him 

On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim 

In tears ; but he averted his face 

And sought a rougher resting-place : 

Such paramour he deemed too base. 

And himthought, in anguish lying there, 

That needles underneath him were. 2 

Now when they had marked his mien so bold, 
Victory in all things they foretold. 
'The wars, O As'ad, waged by thee 
Shall heal mankind of misery. 



1 Instead of Hinwam the original has Hayyum, for which Von Kremer 
reads Annum. But see Hamdani, Jaziratu 'I- 1 Arab, p. 193, last line and 
fol. 

2 I read al-jahdi for al-jahli. 



BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES 21 



Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue 
When his gashes let the daylight through ; 
And blood shall flow on every hand 
What time thou marchest from land to land. 
By us be counselled : stay not within 
Khamir, but go to Zafar and win ! 
To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, 
Thy foes shall see thee before they hear. 
Desire moved to encounter thee, 
Noble prince, us witches three. 
Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, 
And well didst thou the proof abide.' 

As'ad went home and told his folk 

What he had seen, but no heed they took. 

On the tenth day he set out again 

And fared to Zafar with thoughts in his brain. 

There fortune raised him to high renown : 

None swifter to strike ever wore a crown. 1 

* * * * * 

Thus found we the tale in memory stored, 
And Almighty is the Lord. 
Praise be to God who liveth aye, 
The Glorious to whom all men pray ! " 

Legend makes As'ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to 
Persia, where he defeated the general sent against him by the 
Arsacids, and penetrated to the Caspian Sea. On his way 
home he marched through the Hijaz, and having learned that 
his son, whom he left behind in Medina, had been treacherously 
murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the 
people of that city. 

" Now while the Tubba' was carrying on war against them, there 
came to him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banu Qurayza, men deep in 
knowledge, who when they heard that he wished to destroy the 



1 I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of Medina 
came to King As'ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he 
gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to Zafar 
in triumph. 



22 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



city and its people, said to him : ' King, forbear ! Verily, if thou 
wilt accept nothing save that which thou desirest, an intervention 
. . - j - / .. will be made betwixt thee and the city, and we are 

As'ad Kamil J ' 

and the not sure but that sudden chastisement may befall 
^MedSa 5 thee -' 'Why so?' he asked. They answered : "Tis 

the place of refuge of a prophet who in the after 
time shall go forth from the sacred territory of Quraysh : it shall be 
his abode and his home.' So the king refrained himself, for he saw 
that those two had a particular knowledge, and he was pleased with 
what they told him. On departing from Medina he followed them 
in their religion. 1 . . . And he turned his face towards Mecca, that 

being his way to Yemen, and when he was between 
A at a Mect?. 11 'Usfan and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and 

said : ' O King, shall we not guide thee to a house of 
ancient treasure which the kings before thee neglected, wherein 
are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites and gold and silver ?' He 
said, ' Yea.' They said : ' It is a temple at Mecca which those who 
belong to it worship and in which they pray.' Now the Hudhalites 
wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that destruction awaited 
the king who should seek to violate its precinct. So on compre- 
hending what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to ask 
them about the affair. They replied : ' These folk intend naught 
but to destroy thee and thine army ; we wot not of any house in the 
world that God hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that 
to which they invite thee, thou and those with thee will surely 
perish together.' He said : ' What then is it ye bid me do when I 
come there ? ' They said : ' Thou wilt do as its people do — make 
the circuit thereof, and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, 
and humble thyself before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' 
He said : ' And what hinders you from doing that yourselves ? ' 
' By God,' said they, ' it is the temple of our father Abraham, and 
verily it is even as we told thee, but we are debarred therefrom by 
the idols which its people have set up around it and by the blood- 
offerings which they make beside it ; for they are vile polytheists,' 
or words to the same effect. The king perceived that their advice 
was good and their tale true. He ordered the Hudhalites to 
approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he continued his 
march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, sacrificed 
camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he stayed 
six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of camels 



1 Ibn Hisham, p. 13, 1. 14 sqq. 



AS l AD KAMIL AND THE RABBINS 23 



and letting them drink honey. 1 . . . Then he moved out with his 
troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying 
him ; and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects 
"stawSh *° a dopt the religion which he himself had embraced, 
Judaism in but they refused unless the question were submitted 
Yemen. to ^ e rdeal of fire which at that time existed in 
Yemen ; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a 
fire that gave judgment between them in their disputes : it devoured 
the wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. 
The °fire eal ° f ^he Yemem tes therefore came forward with their 
idols and whatever else they used as a means of 
drawing nigh unto God, and the two Rabbins came forward with 
their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both parties 
seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to 
issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from 
it as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged 
them on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the 
fire enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the 
men of Himyar, the bearers thereof ; but the Rabbins came forth 
safe and sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures 
were still hanging on their necks. Thereupon the Himyarites con- 
sented to adopt the king's religion, and this was the cause of 
Judaism being established in Yemen." 2 

The poem addressed to his son and successor, Hassan, which 
tradition has put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and 
testament, of which the greater part is taken 
^t^hisToT 611 U P with an account of his conquests and with 
glorification of his family and himself.3 Nearly- 
all that we find in the way of maxims or injunctions suitable 
to the solemn occasion is contained in the following verses : — 

" O Hassan, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last : 
Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past. 
Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise 
Are the base exalted : such is Man who is born and dies. 



1 Ibn Hisham, p. 15, 1. 1 sqq. 2 Ibid., p. 17, 1. 2 sqq. 

3 Arabic text in Von Kremer's Alfarabische Gedichte ueber die Volkssage 
von Jemen, p. 20 seq. ; prose translation by the same author in Die 
Sudarabische Sage, p. 84 sqq. 



24 SABA AND HIMYAR 

Bid ye Himyar know that standing erect would I buried be, 
And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with 
me. 1 

And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay 
The truth, and safe in her keeping is castle Ghayman aye. 2 

In connection with Ghayman a few words may be added 
respecting the castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons 
rising from solitary heights seem still to frown 
of Yemen 3 defiance upon the passing traveller. Two thou- 
sand years ago, and probably long before, they 
were occupied by powerful barons, more or less independent, 
who in later times, when the Himyarite Empire had begun to 
decline, always elected, and occasionally deposed, their royal 
master. Of these castles the geographer Hamdani has given a 
detailed account in the eighth book of his great work on the 
history and antiquities of Yemen entitled the Iklil y or 
1 Crown.' 3 The oldest and most celebrated was Ghumdan, 
the citadel of San'a. It is described as a huge edifice of 
twenty stories, each story ten cubits high. The 

Ghumdan. 3 , ' 3 . ° 

four facades were built with stone or different 
colours, white, black, green, and red. On the top story was 
a chamber which had windows of marble framed with ebony 
and planewood. Its roof was a slab of pellucid marble, so 
that when the lord of Ghumdan lay on his couch he saw the 
birds fly overhead, and could distinguish a raven from a kite. 
At each corner stood a brazen lion, and when the wind blew 

1 The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kremer translates (in 
his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26) : " And bury with me the camel 
stallions (al-khildn) and the slaves {al-mqqdn).." Apart, however, from 
the fact that ruqqrin (plural of raqiq) is not mentioned by the lexico- 
graphers, it seems highly improbable that the king would have com- 
manded such a barbarity. I therefore take khi'ldn (plural of khdl) in the 
meaning of ' soft stuffs of Yemen,' and read zuqqdn (plural of ziqq). 

2 Ghayman or Miqlab, a castle near San'a, in which the Himyarite kings 
were buried. 

3 The text and translation of this section of the Iklil have been pub- 
lished by D. H. Muller in S.B.W.A., vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, 1879-1880). 



zarqA of yam Am a 25 



it entered the hollow interior of the effigies and made a sound 
like the roaring of lions. 

The adventure of As'ad Kamil with the three witches must 
have recalled to every reader certain scenes in Macbeth. 
Curiously enough, in the history of his son Hassan an incident 
is related which offers a striking parallel to the march of 
Birnam Wood. Tasm and Jadis have already been men- 
tioned. On the massacre of the former tribe by the latter, a 
single Tasmite named Ribah b. Murra made his escape and 
took refuge with the Tubba' Hassan, whom he persuaded to 
lead an expedition against the murderers. Now Ribah's sister 

had married a man of Jadis. Her name was 
'l-ySfma Zarqa'u '1-Yamama — the Blue-eyed Woman 

of Yamama — and she had such piercing sight that 
she was able to descry an army thirty miles away. Hassan 
therefore bade his horsemen hold in front of them leafy 
branches which they tore down from the trees. They 
advanced thus hidden, and towards evening, when they had 
come within a day's journey, Zarqa said to her people : " I 
see trees marching." No one believed her until it was too 
late. Next morning Hassan fell upon them and put the whole 
tribe to the sword. 

The warlike expeditions to which Hassan devoted all his 
energy were felt as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of 

Himyar, who formed a plot to slay him and set 
murdered by his brother c Amr on the throne. c Amr was at 

his brother. ' m 

first unwilling to lend himself to their designs, 
but ultimately his scruples were overcome, and he 
stabbed the Tubba' with his own hand. The assassin 
suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his 
remorse he began to execute the conspirators one after another. 

There was, however, a single chief called Dhu 
uayn. j^ u c a y n ^ w j 10 j ia j rema ined loyal and had done his 
best to save 'Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding his 
efforts fruitless, he requested 'Amr to take charge of a sealed 



26 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



paper which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe 
place until he should ask for it. 'Amr consented and thought 
no more of the matter. Afterwards, imagining that Dhu 
Ru c ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he gave orders for his 
execution. " How ! " exclaimed Dhu Ru'ayn, " did not I tell 
thee what the crime involved ? " and he asked for the sealed 
writing, which was found to contain these verses — 

" O fool to barter sleep for waking ! Blest 
Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest. 
Hath Himyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain 
That God forgiveness owes to Dhu Ru'ayn. 1 " 

On reading this, 'Amr recognised that Dhu Ru'ayn had 
spoken the truth, and he spared his life. 

With 'Amr the Tubba' dynasty comes to an end. The 
succeeding kings were elected by eight of the most powerful 
barons, who in reality were independent princes, each ruling in 
his strong castle over as many vassals and retainers as he could 
bring into subjection. During this period the Abyssinians 
conquered at least some part of the country, and Christian 
viceroys were sent by the Najashi (Negus) to govern it in his 
name. At last Dhu Nuwas, a descendant of the Tubba' 
As'ad Kamil, crushed the rebellious barons and made himself 
unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A fanatical adherent of 
Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in 
Najran, where it is said to have been introduced 
from Syria by a holy man called Faymiyun (Phemion). The 
Himyarites flocked to his standard, not so much from religious 
motives as from hatred of the Abyssinians. The pretended 
murder of two Jewish children gave Dhu Nuwas a plausible 
casus belli. He marched against Najran with an overwhelming 
force, entered the city, and bade the inhabitants 

Massacre of the , , T 1 • i i i n ir 

christians in choose between Judaism and death. Many 
Najran(523 a.d.). ^ i s h ec j by t h e SWO rd ; the rest were thrown into 

a trench which the king ordered to be dug and filled with 

1 Aghdm, xx, 8, 1. 14 seq. 



DHti NUWAS 27 

blazing fire. Nearly a hundred years later, when Muhammad 
was being sorely persecuted, he consoled and encouraged his 
followers by the example of the Christians of Najran, who 
suffered "for no other reason but that they believed in the mighty^ 
the glorious God." 1 Dhu Nuwas paid dearly for his triumph. 
Daws Dhu Tha'laban, one of those who escaped from the 
massacre, fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored him, as 
the head of Christendom, to assist them in obtaining vengeance. 
Justinus accordingly wrote a letter to the Najashi, desiring him 
to take action, and ere long an Abyssinian army, 70,000 
strong, under the command of Aryat, disembarked in Yemen. 
Dhu Nuwas could not count on the loyalty of the Himyarite 
nobles ; his troops melted away. " When he saw 
DhdNuwL. tne f ate that had befallen himself and his people, 
he turned to the sea and setting spurs to his horse, 
rode through the shallows until he reached the deep water. 
Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more of him 
was seen." 2 

Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last 
representative of the long line of Himyarite kings. Hence- 
forth Yemen appears in Pre-islamic history only as an Abys- 
sinian dependency or as a Persian protectorate. The events 
now to be related form the prologue to a new drama in which 
South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, plays an 
almost insignificant role. 3 



On the death of Dhu Nuwas, the Abyssinian general Aryat 
continued his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part 
of the males, laid waste a third part of the land, and 

A^ysTiSan^ule. sent a third P art of the women a nd children to the 
Najashi as slaves. Having reduced the Yemenites to 
submission and re-established order, he held the position of viceroy 



1 Koran, Ixxxv, 4 sqq. 2 Tabari, i, 927, 1. 19 sqq. 

3 The following narrative is abridged from Taban, i, 928, 1. 2 sqq. 
= Noldeke, Geschichte der Perser and Araber ztir Zeit der Sasaniden, 
p. 192 sqq. 



28 



SABA AND HIMYAR 



for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the Abyssinian army 
of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an officer, named 
Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said to Aryat : 
" What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a civil war that 
will leave none of them alive ? Fight it out with me, and let the 
troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, Abraha 
stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a 

devout Christian, while Aryat was big, tall, and hand- 
Ab Ary a at and some - When the duel began, Aryat thrust his spear 

with the intention of piercing Abraha' s brain, but it 
glanced off his forehead, slitting his eyelid, nose, and lip — hence the 
name, al-Ashram, by which Abraha was afterwards known ; and ere 
he could repeat the blow, a youth in Abraha's service, called 
'Atwada, who was seated on a hillock behind his master, sprang 
forward and dealt him a mortal wound. Thus Abraha found 
himself commander-in-chief of the Abyssinian army, but the Najashi 
was enraged and swore not to rest until he set foot on the soil of 
Yemen and cut off the rebel's forelock. On hearing this, Abraha 
wrote to the Najashi : " O King, Aryat was thy servant even as I am. 
We quarrelled over thy command, both of us owing allegiance to 
thee, but I had more strength than he to command the Abyssinians 
and keep discipline and exert authority. When I heard of the 
king's oath, I shore my head, and now I send him a sack of the 
earth of Yemen that he may put it under his feet and fulfil his oath." 
The Najashi answered this act of submission by appointing Abraha 

to be his viceroy. . . . Then Abraha built the church 
Ab o r f a Yemen roy (al-Qalis) at San'a, the like of which was not to be seen 

at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the 
Najashi that he would not be content until he had diverted thither 
every pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of 
the Banu Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was 
angered by what he learned of Abraha's purpose ; so he went into 
the church and defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of 
the outrage belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and 
that he meant to show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new 
foundation, he waxed wroth and swore that he would march against 
the Temple and lay it in ruins. 



The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place 
in the year of the Elephant (570 a.d.), did not at once free 
Yemen from the Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, 
Yaqsum and Masruq, bore heavily on the Arabs. Seeing no 



THE A B YSSINIA NS IN YEMEN 29 



help among his own people, a noble Himyarite named Sayf b. 
DM Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His choice 

lay between the Byzantine and Persian empires, 
Sa Yazan? hl and he first betook himself to Constantinople. 

Disappointed there, he induced the Arab king of 
Hi'ra, who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him at the 
court of Mada'in (Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the 
Sasanian monarch, Nushirwan, surnamed the Just, and tempted 
him by an ingenious trick to raise a force of eight hundred 
condemned felons, who were set free and shipped to Yemen 
under the command of an aged general ; how they literally 
'burned their boats' and, drawing courage from despair, routed 

the Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy 

The Persians in r ^ , . r , 

Yemen 01 r ersia 1 — this forms an almost epic narrative, 
{circa 572 a.d.). j nave omitted here (apart from considera- 

tions of space) because it belongs to Persian rather than to 
Arabian literary history, being probably based, as Noldeke has 
suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian con- 
querors who settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants 
whom the Arabs called al-Abnd (the Sons) or Banu U-Ahrdr 
(Sons of the Noble). 

Leaving the once mighty kingdom of Yemen thus pitiably 
and for ever fallen from its high estate, we turn northward 
into the main stream of Arabian history. 

1 The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters in 
Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 178-181. 



CHAPTER II 



THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 

Muhammadans include the whole period of Arabian history 
from the earliest times down to the establishment of Islam 
in the term al-Jdhiliyya* which was used by 

The Age of 

Barbarism Muhammad in four passages of the Koran and is 

(al-Jahiliyya). ' . ' f , 6 

generally translated 'the state or ignorance or 
simply c the Ignorance.' Goldziher, however, has shown con- 
clusively that the meaning attached to jahl (whence fdhiliyya 
is derived) by the Pre-islamic poets is not so much ' ignorance ' 
as c wildness,' c savagery/ and that its true antithesis is not 
Him (knowledge), but rather hilm, which denotes the moral 
reasonableness of a civilised man. " When Muhammadans say 
that Islam put an end to the manners and customs of the 
ydhiliyya, they have in view those barbarous practices, that 
savage temper, by which Arabian heathendom is distinguished 
from Islam and by the abolition of which Muhammad sought 
to work a moral reformation in his countrymen : the haughty 
spirit of the Jahiliyya (hamiyyatu ^ l-Jahiliyya\ the tribal pride 
and the endless tribal feuds, the cult of revenge, the implaca- 
bility and all the other pagan characteristics which Islam was 
destined to overcome." 1 

Our sources of information regarding this period may be 
classified as follows : — 

(i) Poems and fragments of verse^ which though not written 

1 Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 225. 
30 



SOURCES OF INFORMATION 31 



down at the time were preserved by oral tradition and com- 
mitted to writing, for the most part, two or three hundred 

years afterwards. The importance of this, virtu- 
information a % t ^ le so ^ e contemporary record of Pre-islamic 
c °jahiSy>4 the history, is recognised in the well-known saying, 

"Poetry is the public register of the Arabs {al- 
shi'ru diwdnu U-'Arab) ; thereby genealogies are kept in mind 
and famous actions are made familiar." Some account of the 
chief collections of old Arabian poetry will be given in the 
next chapter. 

(2) Proverbs. These are of less value, as they seldom 
explain themselves, while the commentary attached to them is 
the work of scholars bent on explaining them at all costs, 
though in many cases their true meaning could only be con- 
jectured and the circumstances of their origin had been entirely 
forgotten. Notwithstanding this very pardonable excess of 
zeal, we could ill afford to lose the celebrated collections 
of Mufaddal al-Dabbi (f about 786 a.d.) and Maydani 
(f 1 1 24 a.d.), 1 which contain so much curious information 
throwing light on every aspect of Pre-islamic life. 

(3) Traditions and legends. Since the art of writing was 
neither understood nor practised by the heathen Arabs in 
general, it was impossible that Prose, as a literary form, should 
exist among them. The germs of Arabic Prose, however, may 
be traced back to the Jahiliyya. Besides the proverb (ma thai) and 
the oration (fyutba) we find elements of history and romance 
in the prose narratives used by the rhapsodists to introduce and 
set forth plainly the matter of their songs, and in the legends 
which recounted the glorious deeds of tribes and individuals. 
A vast number of such stories — -some unmistakably genuine, 
others bearing the stamp of fiction — are preserved in various 
literary, historical, and geographical works composed under the 
'Abbasid Caliphate, especially in the Kitdbu U-Aghdni (Book 

1 Maydani's collection has been edited, with a Latin translation by 
Freytag, in three volumes (Arabum Proverbia, Bonn, 1838-1843). 



32 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



of Songs) by Abu '1-Faraj of Isfahan (f 967 a.d.), an invaluable 
compilation based on the researches of the great Humanists 
as they have been well named by Sir Charles Lyall, of the 
second and third centuries after the Hijra. 1 The original 

writings of these early critics and scholars have 
Th longs! ° f P er ished almost without exception, and beyond the 

copious citations in the Aghdnl we possess hardly 
any specimens of their work. " The Book of Songs" says Ibn 
Khaldun, " is the Register of the Arabs. It comprises all that 
they had achieved in the past of excellence in every kind of 
poetry, history, music, et cetera. So far as I am aware, no other 
book can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the 
final resource of the student of belles-lettres, and leaves him 
nothing further to desire." 2 

In the following pages I shall not attempt to set in due 
order and connection the confused mass of poetry and legend 

in which all that we know of Pre-islamic Arabia 
th? s C chapter. nes deeply embedded. This task has already been 

performed with admirable skill by Caussin de 
Perceval in his Essai sur Vhistoire des Arabes avant P Islamisme^ 
and it could serve no useful purpose to inflict a dry summary 
of that famous work upon the reader. The better course, I 
think, will be to select a few typical and outstanding features 
of the time and to present them, wherever possible, as they 
have been drawn — largely from imagination — by the Arabs 
themselves. If the Arabian traditions are wanting in historical 
accuracy they are nevertheless, taken as a whole, true in spirit 
to the Dark Age which they call up from the dead and 
reverently unfold beneath our eyes. 

1 The Kitdbu 'UAghdni has been published at Bulaq (1284-1285 A.H.) in 
twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the Bulaq 
text was edited by R. E. Briinnow (Leiden, 1888). 

2 Muqaddima of Ibn Khaldun (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, 11. 8-10 ; Les Pro- 
legomcncs d' Ibn Khaldoun traduits far M. dc Slane (Paris, 1863-68) 
vol. iii, p. 331. 

3 Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes. 



ARAB KINGDOMS 



33 



About the middle of the third century of our era Arabia 
was enclosed on the north and north-east by the rival empires 
of Rome and Persia, to which the Syrian desert, stretching 
ris;ht across the peninsula, formed a natural termination. In 
order to protect themselves from Bedouin raiders, who poured 
over the frontier-provinces, and after laying hands on all the 
booty within reach vanished as suddenly as they came, both 
Powers found it necessary to plant a line of garrisons along 
the edge of the wilderness. Thus the tribesmen were partially 
held in check, but as force alone seemed an expensive and 
inefficient remedy it was decided, in accordance with the well- 
proved maxim, divide et impera, to enlist a number of the 
offending tribes in the Imperial service. Regular pay and the 
prospect of unlimited plunder — for in those days Rome and 
Persia were almost perpetually at war — were inducements that 

no true Bedouin could resist. They fought, how- 
dynasties of Hira ever, as free allies under their own chiefs or 

phylarchs. In this way two Arabian dynasties 
sprang up — the Ghassanids in Syria and the Lakhmites at 
Hira, west of the Euphrates — military buffer-states, always 
ready to collide even when they were not urged on by the 
suzerain powers behind them. The Arabs soon showed what 
they were capable of when trained and disciplined in arms. 
On the defeat of Valerian by the Chosroes Sabur I, an Arab 
chieftain in Palmyra, named Udhayna (Odenathus), marched 
at the head of a strong force against the conqueror, drove him 
out of Syria, and pursued him up to the very walls of Mada'in, 
the Persian capital (265 a.d.). His brilliant exploits were 
duly rewarded by the Emperor Gallienus, who bestowed on 

him the title of Augustus. He was, in fact, the 
0i f£obia* nd acknowledged master of the Roman legions in the 

East when, a year later, he was treacherously 
murdered. He found a worthy successor in his wife, the 
noble and ambitious Zenobia, who set herself the task of 
building up a great Oriental Empire. She fared, however, no 

4 



34 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



better than did Cleopatra in a like enterprise. For a moment 
the issue was doubtful, but Aurelian triumphed and the proud 
6 Queen of the East' was led a captive before his chariot 
through the streets of Rome (274 a.d.). 

These events were not forgotten by the Arabs. It flattered 
their national pride to recall that once, at any rate, Roman 
armies had marched under the flag of an Arabian princess 
But the legend, as told in their traditions, has little in common 
with reality. Not only are names and places freely altered — 
Zenobia herself being confused with her Syrian general, Zabdai 
— but the historical setting, though dimly visible in the back- 
ground, has been distorted almost beyond recognition : what 
remains is one of those romantic adventures which delighted 
the Arabs of the Jdhiliyya^ just as their modern descendants 
are never tired of listening to the Story of i Antar or to the 
Thousand Nights and a Night. 

The first king of the Arab settlers in 'Iraq (Babylonia) 1 
is said to have been Malik the Azdite, who was accidentally 
shot with an arrow by his son, Sulayma. Before 

Malik the Azdite. - i t. / , . / i_ * 

he expired he uttered a verse which has become 
proverbial : — 

U'allimuhu 'l-rimdyata kulla yawm* n 
falamma 'shtadda sd'iduhu ramdni. 

" I taught him every day the bowman's art, 
And when his arm grew strong, he pierced my 
heart." 

Malik's kingdom, if it can properly be described as such, was 

consolidated and organised by his son, Jadhfma, surnamed 

al-Abrash (the Speckled) — a polite euphemism for 

al-AbrSh. al-Abras (the Leprous). He reigned as the vassal 

of Ardashir Babakan, the founder (226 a.d.) of 

the Sasanian dynasty in Persia, which thereafter continued to 

dominate the Arabs of 'Iraq during the whole Pre-islamic 

1 These are the same Bedouin Arabs of Tanukh who afterwards formed 
part of the population of Hira. See p. 38 infra. 



JADHlMA AL-ABRASH 



35 



period. Jadhi'ma is the hero of many fables and proverbs. 
His pride, it is said, was so overweening that he would suffer 
no boon-companions except two stars called al-Farqadan, and 
when he drank wine he used to pour out a cup for each of 
them. He had a page, c Ad{ b. Nasr, with whom his sister fell 
in love ; and in a moment of intoxication he gave his consent 
to their marriage. Next morning, furious at the trick which 
had been played upon him, he beheaded the unlucky bride- 
groom and reviled his sister for having married a slave. 
Nevertheless, when a son was born, Jadhi'ma adopted the boy, 
and as he grew up regarded him with the utmost affection. 
One day the youthful ( Amr suddenly disappeared. For a long 
time no trace of him could be found, but at last he was dis- 
covered, running wild and naked, by two brothers, Malik and 
*Aqfl, who cared for him and clothed him and presented him 
to the king. Overjoyed at the sight, Jadhima promised to 
grant them whatever they asked. They chose the honour, 
which no mortal had hitherto obtained, of being his boon- 
companions, and by this title {nadmdnd Jadhima) they are 
known to fame. 

Jadhfma was a wise and warlike prince. In one of his 
expeditions he defeated and slew 'Amr b. Zarib b. Hassdn b. 
Udhayna, an Arab chieftain who had brought part of Eastern 
Syria and Mesopotamia under his sway, and who, as the name 
Udhayna indicates, is probably identical with Odenathus, the 
husband of Zenobia. This opinion is confirmed by the state- 
ment of Ibn Qutayba that "Jadhima sought in marriage 
Zabba, the daughter of the King of Mesopotamia, 
Th zatS° f wno became queen after her husband." 1 Accord- 
ing to the view generally held by Muhammadan 
authors Zabbd 2 was the daughter of 'Amr b. Zarib and was 

1 Ibn Qutayba in Briinnow's Chrestomathy, p. 29. 

2 Properly al-Zabbd, an epithet meaning ' hairy.' According to Tabari 
(i, 757) her name was Na'ila. It is odd that in the Arabic version of the 
story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the heroine's sister. 



36 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



elected to succeed him when he fell in battle. However this 
may be, she proved herself a woman of extraordinary courage 
and resolution. As a safeguard against attack she built two 
strong castles on either bank of the Euphrates and connected 
them by a subterranean tunnel ; she made one fortress her 
own residence, while her sister, Zaynab, occupied the other. 

Having thus secured her position she determined to take 
vengeance on Jadhima. She wrote to him that the sceptre was 
slipping from her feeble grasp, that she found no man worthy of 
her except himself, that she desired to unite her kingdom with his 
by marriage, and begged him to come and see her. Jadhima needed 
no urging. Deaf to the warnings of his friend and counsellor, 
Qasir, he started from Baqqa, a castle on the Euphrates. When 
they had travelled some distance, Qasir implored him to return. 
"No," said Jadhima, "the affair was decided at Baqqa" — words 
which passed into a proverb. On approaching their destination the 
king saw with alarm squadrons of cavalry between him and the city, 
and said to Qasir, "What is the prudent course?" "You left 
prudence at Baqqa," he replied ; " if the cavalry advance and salute 
you as king and then retire in front of you, the woman is sincere, 
but if they cover your flanks and encompass you, they mean 
treachery. Mount al-'Asa" — Jadhima's favourite mare — "for she 
cannot be overtaken or outpaced, and rejoin your troops while 
there is yet time." Jadhima refused to follow this advice. Presently 
he was surrounded by the cavalry and captured. Qasir, however, 
sprang on the mare's back and galloped thirty miles without drawing 
rein. 

When Jadhima was brought to Zabba she seated him on a skin of 
leather and ordered her maidens to open the veins in his arm, so 
that his blood should flow into a golden bowl. "O Jadhima," said 
she, " let not a single drop be lost. I want it as a cure for madness." 
The dying man suddenly moved his arm and sprinkled with his 
blood one of the marble pillars of the hall — an evil portent for 
Zabba, inasmuch as it had been prophesied by a certain soothsayer 
that unless every drop of the king's blood entered the bowl, his 
murder would be avenged. 

N o w Qasir came to 'Amr b. 'Adi, Jadhima's nephew and son by adop- 
tion, who has been mentioned above, and engaged to win over the 
army to his side if he would take vengeance on Zabba. " But how ? " 
cried 'Amr ; "for she is more inaccessible than the eagle of the air." 
"Only help me," said Qasir, "and you will be clear of blame." He 



THE STORY OF ZABBA 



37 



cut off his nose and ears and betook himself to Zabba, pretending 
that he had been mutilated by 'Amr. The queen believed what she 
saw, welcomed him, and gave him money to trade on her behalf. 
Qasir hastened to the palace of 'Amr at Hira, and, having obtained 
permission to ransack the royal treasury, he returned laden with 
riches. Thus he gradually crept into the confidence of Zabba, until 
one day he said to her : " It behoves every king and queen to pro- 
vide themselves with a secret passage wherein to take refuge in 
case of danger." Zabba answered : " I have already done so," and 
showed him the tunnel which she had constructed underneath the 
Euphrates. His project was now ripe for execution. With the 
help of 'Amr he fitted out a caravan of a thousand camels, each 
carrying two armed men concealed in sacks. When they drew near 
the city of Zabba, Qasir left them and rode forward to announce 
their arrival to the queen, who from the walls of her capital viewed 
the long train of heavily burdened camels and marvelled at the slow 
pace with which they advanced. As the last camel passed through 
the gates of the city the janitor pricked one of the sacks with an 
ox-goad which he had with him, and hearing a cry of pain, exclaimed, 
" By God, there's mischief in the sacks ! " But it was too late. 
'Amr and his men threw themselves upon the garrison and put them 
to the sword. Zabba sought to escape by the tunnel, but Qasir stood 
barring the exit on the further side of the stream. She hurried back, 
and there was 'Amr facing her. Resolved that her enemy should 
not taste the sweetness of vengeance, she sucked her seal-ring, 
which contained a deadly poison, crying, "By my own hand, not 
by 'Amr's !" 1 

In the kingdoms of Hira and Ghassan Pre-islamic culture 
attained its highest development, and from these centres it 
diffused itself and made its influence felt throughout Arabia. 
Some account, therefore, of their history and of the circum- 
stances which enabled them to assume a civilising role will 
not be superfluous. 2 

1 The above narrative is abridged from Aghdnl, xiv, 73, 1. 20-75, 1- 2 5- 
Cf. Tabari, i, 757-766 ; Mas'udi, Muriiju 'l-Dhahab (ed. by Barbier de 
Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199. 

2 Concerning Hira and its history the reader may consult an admirable 
monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein, Die Dynastie der Lahmidcn in al-Hira 
(Berlin, 1899), where the sources of information are set forth (p. 5 sqq.). 
The incidental references to contemporary events in Syriac and Byzantine 
writers, who often describe what they saw with their own eyes, are 



38 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



About the beginning of the third century after Christ a 
number of Bedouin tribes, wholly or partly of Yemenite origin, 

who had formed a confederacy and called them- 
The of°H n ira. tion selves collectively Tanukh, took advantage of the 

disorder then prevailing in the Arsacid Empire to 
invade 'Iraq (Babylonia) and plant their settlements in the 
fertile country west of the Euphrates. While part of the 
intruders continued to lead a nomad life, others engaged in 
agriculture, and in course of time villages and towns grew up. 
The most important of these was Hfra (properly, al-Hlra, 
i.e., the Camp), which occupied a favourable and healthy 
situation a few miles to the south of Kufa, in the neigh- 
bourhood of ancient Babylon. 1 According to Hisham b. 
Muhammad al-Kalbi (f 819 or 821 a.d.), an excellent 
authority for the history of the Pre-islamic period, the 
inhabitants of Hira during the reign of Ardashlr Babakan, 
the first Sasanian king of Persia (226-241 a.d.), consisted of 
three classes, viz. : — 

( 1 ) The Tanukh, who dwelt west of the Euphrates between 
Hira and Anbar in tents of camel's hair. 

(2) The c Ibdd, who lived in houses in Hira. 

(3) The Ahlaf (Clients), who did not belong to either of 
the above-mentioned classes, but attached themselves to the 
people of Hira and lived among them — blood-guilty fugitives 

extremely valuable as a means of fixing the chronology, which Arabian 
historians can only supply by conjecture, owing to the want of a definite 
era during the Pre-islamic period. Muhammadan general histories 
usually contain sections, more or less mythical in character, "On the 
Kings of Hira and Ghassan." Attention may be called in particular to the 
account derived from Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, which is preserved 
by Tabari and has been translated with a masterly commentary by 
Noldeke in his Geschichte der Perser unci Amber zur Zeit der Sasaniden. 
Hisham had access to the archives kept in the churches of Hira, and 
claims to have extracted therefrom many genealogical and chronological 
details relating to the Lakhmite dynasty (Tabari, i, 770, 7). 

1 Hira is the Syriac hertd (sacred enclosure, monastery), which name 
was applied to the originally mobile camp of the Persian Arabs and 
retained as the designation of the garrison town. 



HtRA AND ITS INHABITANTS 39 



pursued by the vengeance of their own kin, or needy emigrants 
seeking to mend their fortunes. 

Naturally the townsmen proper formed by far the most 
influential element in the population. Hisham, as we have 
seen, calls them c the 'Ibad.' His use of this 

The'Ibad. ' . 

term, however, is not strictly accurate. 1 he 
'Ibad are exclusively the Christian Arabs of Hira, and are 
so called in virtue of their Christianity ; the pagan Arabs, 
who at the time when Hira was founded and for long 
afterwards constituted the bulk of the citizens, were never 
comprised in a designation which expresses the very opposite 
of paganism. 'Ibad means * servants,' i.e., those who serve 
God or Christ. It cannot be determined at what epoch the 
name was first used to distinguish the religious community, 
composed of members of different tribes, which was dominant 
in Hira during the sixth century. Dates are compara- 
tively of little importance ; what is really remarkable is the 
existence in Pre-islamic times of an Arabian community 
that was not based on blood-relationship or descent from a 
common ancestor, but on a spiritual principle, namely, the 
profession of a common faith. The religion and culture of 
the 'Ibad were conveyed by various channels to the inmost 
recesses of the peninsula, as will be shown more fully in a 
subsequent chapter. They were the schoolmasters of the 
heathen Arabs, who could seldom read or write, and who, it 
must be owned, so far from desiring to receive instruction, 
rather gloried in their ignorance of accomplishments which 
they regarded as servile. Nevertheless, the best minds among 
the Bedouins were irresistibly attracted to Hira. Poets in 
those days found favour with princes. A great number of 
Pre-islamic bards visited the Lakhmite court, while some, 
like Nabigha and 'Abid b. al-Abras, made it their permanent 
residence. 

It is unnecessary to enter into the vexed question as to the 
origin and rise of the Lakhmite dynasty at Hira. According 



40 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



to Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, who gives a list of twenty 
kings, covering a period of 522 years and eight months, the 
first Lakhmite ruler was 'Amr b. 'Adi b. Nasr 

The Lakhmites. * 

b. Rabf'a b. Lakhm, the same who was adopted 
by Jadhlma, and afterwards avenged his death on Queen 
Zabba. Almost nothing is known of his successors until we 
come to Nu'man I, surnamed al-A'war (the One-eyed), 

whose reign falls in the first quarter of the fifth 
(chxa™oot-D.). century. Nu'man is renowned in legend as the 

builder of Khawarnaq, a famous castle near Hfra. 
It was built at the instance of the Sasanian king, Yazdigird I, 
who desired a salubrious residence for his son, Prince Bahram 
Gor. On its completion, Nu'man ordered the architect, a 
c Roman ' (i.e., Byzantine subject) named Sinimmar, to be 
cast headlong from the battlements, either on account of his 

boast that he could have constructed a yet more 
^hawarna^ wonderful edifice "which should turn round 

with the sun," or for fear that he might reveal 
the position of a certain stone, the removal of which would 
cause the whole building to collapse. One spring day (so the 
story is told) Nu'man sat with his Vizier in Khawarnaq, which 
overlooked the Fen-land (al-Najar), with its neighbouring 
gardens and plantations of palm-trees and canals, to the west, 
and the Euphrates to the east. Charmed by the beauty of the 
prospect, he exclaimed, " Hast thou ever seen the like of 

this ? " " No," replied the Vizier, " if it would 
becomes an but last." "And what is lasting?" asked 

Nu'man. " That which is with God in heaven." 
" How can one attain to it ? " "By renouncing the world 
and serving God, and striving after that which He hath." 
Nu'man, it is said, immediately resolved to abandon his 
kingdom ; on the same night he clad himself in sack-cloth, 
stole away unperceived, and became a wandering devotee 
(sd'ih). This legend seems to have grown out of the 
following verses by 4 Adi b. Zayd, the 'Ibadite : — 



THE LAKHMITE DYNASTY 41 



"Consider thou Khawarnaq's lord — and oft 
Of heavenly guidance cometh vision clear — 
Who once, rejoicing in his ample realm, 
Surveyed the broad Euphrates, and Sadir ; 1 
Then sudden terror struck his heart : he cried, 
'Shall Man, who deathward goes, find pleasure here?' 
They reigned, they prospered ; yet, their glory past, 
In yonder tombs they lie this many a year. 
At last they were like unto withered leaves 
Whirled by the winds away in wild career." 2 

The opinion of most Arabian authors, that Nu'man embraced 
Christianity, is probably unfounded, but there is reason to 
believe that he was well disposed towards it, and that his 
Christian subjects — a Bishop of Hira is mentioned as early as 
410 a.d. — enjoyed complete religious liberty. 

NVman's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and 
energetic prince. The power of the Lakhmites at this time 
may be inferred from the fact that on the death 

Mundhir I. . 

of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly intervened in 
the dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the 
election of Bahram Gor, whose claims had previously been 
rejected by the priesthood.3 In the war which broke out 
shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, Mundhir proved 
himself a loyal vassal, but was defeated by the Romans with 
great loss (421 a.d.). Passing over several obscure reigns, we 
arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another 

Mundhir, the third and most illustrious of his 
b^Md^ai-sama. name, ascended the throne. This is he whom the 

Arabs called Mundhir b. Ma al-sama.4 He had 
a long and brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily 

1 Sadir was a castle in the vicinity of Hira. 2 Taban, i, 853, 20 sqq. 

3 Bahram was educated at Hira under Nu'man and Mundhir. The 
Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of 
the Arabs among whom he had grown up (Taban, i, 858, 7). 

4 Ma' al-sama {i.e., Water of the sky) is said to have been the sobriquet 
of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was Mariya or Mawiyya. 



42 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



clouded by an event that cannot be understood without some 
reference to the general history of the period. About 480 a.d. 
the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes appear to have held 
much the same position under the Tubba's of Yemen as the 
Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their 
sway over the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia. 

The moving spirit in this conquest was Huir, 

Rise of Kinda. P r _ n , 

surnamed Akilu 1-Murar, an ancestor of the 
poet Xmru'u '1-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy 
was broken up, but towards the year 500 it was re-established 
for a brief space by his grandson, Harith b. c Amr, and became 
a formidable rival to the kingdoms of Ghassan and Hfra. 
Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic doctrines of Mazdak 

had obtained wide popularity among the lower 

Mazdak. r r J ° 

classes, and were finally adopted by King Kawadh 
himself. 1 Now, it is certain that at some date between 505 
and 529 Harith b. c Amr, the Kindite, invaded 'Iraq, and drove 
Mundhir out of his kingdom ; and it seems not impossible 

that, as many historians assert, the latter's down- 
expeliedfrom ^ was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which 
" ir o a f b Kindt rith would naturally excite the displeasure of his 

suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes may 
have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by Harith, 
and although he was restored after a short interval, before the 
accession of Anushirwan, who, as Crown Prince, carried out 
a wholesale massacre of the followers of Mazdak (528 a.d.), 
the humiliation which he had suffered and cruelly avenged was 
not soon forgotten ; 2 the life and poems of Imru'u 'l-Qays 

1 For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult 
Noldeke's translation of Tabari, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455~4 7> a nd 
Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 168-172. 

2 Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fifty members of the 
royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. Harith himself was 
defeated and slain by Mundhir in 529. Thereafter the power of Kinda 
sank, and they were gradually forced back to their original settlements 
in Hadramawt. 



MUNDHIR III 



43 



bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting between 
Lakhm and Kinda. Mundhir's operations against the 
Romans were conducted with extraordinary vigour ; he 
devastated Syria as far as Antioch, and Justinian saw himself 
obliged to entrust the defence of these provinces to the 
Ghassanid Harith b. Jabala (Harith al-A c raj), in whom 
Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this time 
onward the kings of Hira and Ghassan are continually raiding 
and plundering each other's territory. In one of his expedi- 
tions Mundhir captured a son of Harith, and " immediately 
sacrificed him to Aphrodite " — to the Arabian goddess 
al-'Uzza ; 1 but on taking the field again in 554 he was 
surprised and slain by stratagem in a battle which 
mSSSmii. is known proverbially as 'The Day of Hah'ma.' 2 
On the whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and 
barbarous race, and these epithets are richly deserved by 
Mundhir III. It is related in the Agharii that he had two 
boon-companions, Khalid b. al-Mudallil and 'Amr b. Mas c ud, 
with whom he used to carouse ; and once, being irritated by 
words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be 
buried alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had 
passed and inquired as usual for his friends. On learning 
the truth he was filled with remorse. He caused two 
obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two 
"Good Day and days in every year he would come and sit beside 
these obelisks, which were called al-Ghariyydn 
— the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of Good 
(yawmu naHm tn \ and whoever first encountered him on that 
day received a hundred black camels. The other day was the 
Day of Evil [yawmu bus™), on which he would present the 
first-comer with the head of a black polecat (zaribdn), then 
sacrifice him and smear the obelisks with his blood.3 The 



1 On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to 
the same goddess. 

3 See p. 50 infra. 3 Aghdm, xix, 86, 1. 16 sqq. 



44 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



poet c Abid b. al-Abras is said to have fallen a victim to this 
horrible rite. It continued until the doom fell upon a certain 
Hanzala of Tayyi', who was granted a year's grace in order to 
regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find a surety. 
He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, Sharik b. c Amr, who 
straightway rose and said to the king, " My hand 

^ a s n h ? arL and for his and m J bloocl for his if he fail to return 
at the time appointed." When the day came 
Hanzala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice 
Sharik, whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant 
the dirge. Suddenly a rider was seen approaching, wrapped 
in a shroud and perfumed for burial. A mourning-woman 
accompanied him. It was Hanzala. Mundhir marvelled at 
their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and 
abolished the custom which he had instituted. 1 

He was succeeded by his son c Amr, who is known to 
contemporary poets and later historians as c Amr, son of Hind. 2 
During his reign Hira became an important literary 
(5M-569 a!d!). centre. Most of the famous poets then living 
visited his court ; we shall see in the next chap- 
ter what relations he had with Tarafa, c Amr b. Kulthum, 
and Harith b. Hilliza. He was a morose, passionate, and 
tyrannical man. The Arabs stood in great awe of him, but 
vented their spite none the less. " At Hira," said Dahab 
al-'Ijlf, " there are mosquitoes and fever and lions and 'Amr b. 
Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully." 3 He was slain by 
the chief of Taghlib, 'Amr b. Kulthum, in vengeance for an 
insult offered to his mother, Layla. 

It is sufficient to mention the names of Qabus and 



1 Aghdm, xix, 87, 1. 18 sqq. 

2 Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the Harith b. 'Amr men- 
tioned above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding 
expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at Hira. 
See Noldeke's translation of Taban, p. 172, n. 1. 

3 Aghdm, xxi, 194, 1. 22. 



NU'MAN III ABtJ QABIJS 



45 



Mundhir IV, both of whom were sons of Hind, and occu- 
pied the throne for short periods. We now come to the 

last Lakhmite king of Hira, and by far the 
NU QdbSs Ab,i most celebrated in tradition, Nu'man III, son of 

Mundhir IV, with the kunya (name of honour) Abu 
Qabus, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to 607. 
He was brought up and educated by a noble Christian family 
in Hira, the head of which was Zayd b. Hammad, father of the 
poet 'Adi b. Zayd. 'Adi is such an interesting figure, and his 
fortunes were so closely and tragically linked with those of 
Nu'man, that some account of his life and character will be 
acceptable. Both his father and grandfather were men of 
unusual culture, who held high posts in the civil administration 
under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, moreover, 

through the good offices of a dihqdn^ or Persian 

landed proprietor, Farrukh-mahan by name, 
obtained from Khusraw Anushirwan an important and con- 
fidential appointment — that of Postmaster — ordinarily reserved 
for the sons of satraps. 1 When 'Adi grew up, his father sent 
him to be educated with the son of the dihqan. He learned 
to write and speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic 
with the utmost elegance ; he versified, and his accomplish- 
ments included archery, horsemanship, and polo. At the 
Persian court his personal beauty, wit, and readiness in reply 
so impressed Anushirwan that he took him into his service 
as secretary and interpreter — Arabic had never before been 
written in the Imperial Chancery — and accorded him all the 
privileges of a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to 
Constantinople, where he was honourably received ; and on his 
departure the Qaysar, 2 following an excellent custom, instructed 
the officials in charge of the post-routes to provide horses and 

1 Zayd was actually Regent of Hira after the death of Qabus, and paved 
the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by the 
people (Noldeke's translation of Tabari, p. 346, n. 1). 

8 The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor ' Qaysar,' i.e., Caesar, and the 
Persian emperor ' Kisrd,' i.e., Chosroes. 



46 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



every convenience in order that the ambassador might see for 
himself the extent and resources of the Byzantine Empire. 
'Adi passed some time in Syria, especially at Damascus, where 
his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's death, 
which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid 
position at Hi'ra which he might have had for the asking, and 
gave himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amusement 
and pleasure, only visiting Mada'in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to 
perform his secretarial duties. While staying at HIra he fell 
in love with Nu'man's daughter Hind, who was then eleven 
years old. The story as told in the 'Book of Songs is too curious 
to be entirely omitted, though want of space prevents me from 
giving it in full. 1 

It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her 
time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after 
Palm Sunday, to receive the sacrament. 'Adi had 
'Adi meets the entered the church for the same purpose. He espied 

Yn church" her — she was a big, tall girl — while she was off her 
guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became 
aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said 
nothing to their mistress, because one of them called Mariya was 
enamoured of 'Adi and knew no other way of making his acquaint- 
ance. When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly 
displeased and scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. 
'Adi had fallen in love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a 
whole year. At the end of that time Mariya, thinking that Hind had 
forgotten what passed, described the church of Thoma (St. Thomas) 
and the nuns there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty 
of the building and of the lamps, and said to her, " Ask thy mother's 
leave to go." As soon as leave was granted, Mariya conveyed the 
intelligence to 'Adi, who immediately dressed himself in a magnifi- 



1 My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that " the 
story of 'Adi's marriage with the king's daughter is based partly on a 
verse in which the poet speaks of himself as connected by marriage with 
the royal house [Aghdnl, ii, 26, 1. 5), and partly on another verse in which 
he mentions 'the home of Hind' (ibid., ii, 32, 1. 1). But this Hind was 
evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter." 



*ADf THE SON OF ZA YD 



47 



cent gold-embroidered Persian tunic (yalmaq) and hastened to the 
rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of Hira. When 
Mariya perceived him, she cried to Hind, " Look at this youth : by 
God, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou seest." 
" Who is he?" she asked. "'Adi, son of Zayd." "Do you think," 
said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then 
she advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, 
outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his 
language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said 
Mariya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her 
feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. Mariya 
went to 'Adi and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to 
bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning 
Nu'man that his daughter was desperately in love with 'Adi and 
would either disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to 
him. Nu'man, however, was too proud to make overtures to 'Adi, 
who on his part feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. 
The ingenious Mariya found a way out of the difficulty. She sug- 
gested that 'Adi should invite Nu'man and his suite to a banquet, 
and having well plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his 
daughter, which would not then be refused. So it 
HlS "ui^d.^ t0 came to pass. Nu'man gave his consent to the mar- 
riage, and after three days Hind was brought home 
to her husband. 1 

On the death of Mundhir IV c Adi warmly supported the 
claims of Nu'man, who had formerly been his pupil and was 
•\di secures the now ^ s father-in-law, to the throne of Hira. 
Nuta!n asKing ^ ne ruse wmcn ne employed on this occasion 
of Hu-a. was com pl e tely successful, but it cost him his 
life. 2 The partisans of Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated 
candidates, resolved on vengeance. Their intrigues awakened 



1 Aghdm, ii, 22, 1. 3 sqq. 

2 When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he 
might choose a king from among them, 'Adi said to each one privately, 
" If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, 
'All except Nu'man.'" To Nu'man, however, he said : "The Chosroes 
will ask, ' Can you manage your brothers ? ' Say to him : ' If I am not 
strong enough for them, I am still less able to control other folk ! ' " 
Hurmuz was satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon 
Nu'man. 



43 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



the suspicions of Nu'man against the * King-maker.' 'Adi 
was cast into prison, where he languished for a 
and put to death long time and was finally murdered by Nu'man 
when the Chosroes (Parwez, son of Hurmuz) had 
already intervened to procure his release. 1 

'Adf left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation 
of Nu'man, was appointed by Khusraw Parwez to succeed his 
The vengeance .father as Secretary for Arabian Affairs at the court 
of zayd b. -Adi. f Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to Nu'man, 
he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for 
an opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in 
female beauty, and when they desired to replenish their harems 
they used to circulate an advertisement describing with extreme 
particularity the physical and moral qualities which were to be 
sought after ; 2 but hitherto they had neglected Arabia, which, 
as they supposed, could not furnish any woman possessed of 
these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the Chosroes 
and said : " I know that Nu'man has in his family a number 
of women answering to the description. Let me go to him, 
and send with me one of thy guardsmen who understands 
Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and Zayd set out for Hira. 
On learning the object of his mission, Nu'man exclaimed with 
indignation : " What ! are not the gazelles of Persia sufficient 
for your needs ? " The comparison of a beautiful woman to a 
gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the officer 
accompanying Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked 
the meaning of the word ('/« or maha) which Nu'man had 
employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When Parwez heard from 

Death of ms guardsman that Nu'man had said, " Do not the 
Nu man in. CQws Q f p ers i a conten t him ? " he could scarcely 
suppress his rage. Soon afterwards he sent for Nu'man, 

1 A full account of these matters is given by Tabari, i, 1016-1024= 
Noldeke's translation, pp. 314-324. 

2 A similar description occurs in Freytag's Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii. 
p. 589 sqq. 



DEATH OP NU'MAN III 



49 



threw him into chains, and caused him to be trampled to 
pieces by elephants. 1 

Nu'man III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, 
devoted to wine, women, and song. He was the patron of 

charactAof many celebrated poets, and especially of Nabigha 

Numan in. Dhubyani, who was driven from Hira in con- 
sequence of a false accusation. This episode, as well as 
another in which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives 
us a glimpse into the private life of Nu'man. He had married 
his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a great beauty in her time ; but 
though he loved her passionately, she bestowed her affections 
elsewhere. Nabigha was suspected on account of a poem in 
which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost 
minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers 
were surprised by Nu'man, and from that day Munakhkhal 
was never seen again. Hence the proverb, " Until Munakh- 
khal shall return," or, as we might say, " Until the coming of 
the Coqcigrues." 

Although several of the kings of Hira are said to have been 
Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except Nu'man III 
deserved even the name ; the Lakhmites, unlike 

conversion to the majority of their subjects, were thoroughly 

Christianity. J J , , / ' n 

pagan. JNu'man s education would naturally pre- 
dispose him to Christianity, and his conversion may have been 
wrought, as the legend asserts, by his mentor 'Adi b. Zayd. 

According to Muhammadan genealogists, the Ghassanids, 
both those settled in Medina and those to whom the name 
The Ghassanids 1S consecrated by popular usage — the Ghassanids 
orjafnites. of Syria— are descended from 'Amr b. 'Amir 
al-Muzayqiya, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his 
possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him 
a great number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of 

1 Tabari, i, 1024-1029 = Noldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn 
Qutayba in Briinnow's Chrcstomalhy, pp. 32-33. 

5 



50 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



the Dyke of Ma'rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as 
the founder of the dynasty. Of their early history very few 
authentic facts have been preserved. At first, we are told, 
they paid tribute to the Daja'ima, a family of the stock of 
Salih, who ruled the Syrian borderlands under Roman pro- 
tection. A struggle ensued, from which the Ghassanids 
emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established 
in these regions as the representatives of Roman authority 
with the official titles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they 
and the Arabs around them rendered after the simple Oriental 
fashion by 'King' (malik). 

The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family 
of Jafna was Harith b. 'Amr Muharriq, who was so called because 
he burnt (harraqa) the Arabs in their houses. He is 
ibn Qutayba^ Harith the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour 
Ghassanids. (kunya) is Abu Shamir. After him reigned Harith b. 

Abi Shamir, known as Harith the Lame (al-A'raj), 
whose mother was Mariya of the Ear-rings. He was the best of 
their kings, and the most fortunate, and the craftiest ; and in his 
raids he went the farthest afield. He led an expedition against 
Khaybar 1 and carried off a number of prisoners, but set them free 
after his return to Syria. When Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama marched 
against him with an army 100,000 strong, Harith sent 

Harith the Lame. & , , , , , J , . . ,° ,« , 

a hundred men to meet him — among them the poet 
Labid, who was then a youth — ostensibly to make peace. They 
surrounded Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions ; 
then they took horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. 
The Ghassanid cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them 
to flight. Harith had a daughter named Halima, who perfumed the 
hundred champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white 
linen and coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, " The 
day of Halima is no secret." 2 Harith was succeeded by his son, 
Harith the Younger. Among his other sons were 'Amr b. Harith 
(called Abu Shamir the Younger), to whom Nabigha came on leaving 
Nu'man b. Mundhir ; Mundhir b. Harith ; and al-Ayham b. Harith. 
Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of Ghassan. 



1 A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of Medina. 

2 See Freytag, Arabum Provcrbia, vol. ii, p. 611. 



THE JAFNITE DYNASTY 51 



He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground 
when he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and be- 
came a Moslem in the Caliphate of 'Uraar b. al-Khattab, 
J Ayham al ~ but afterwards he turned Christian and went to live in 
the Byzantine Empire. The occasion of his turning 
Christian was this : In passing through the bazaar of Damascus he 
let his horse tread upon one of the bystanders, who sprang up and 
struck Jabala a blow on the face. The Ghassanis seized the fellow 
and brought him before Abu 'Ubayda b. al-Jarrah, 1 complaining that 
he had struck their master. Abu 'Ubayda demanded proof. " What 
use wilt thou make of the proof ?" said Jabala. He answered : " If 
he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a blow in return." " And 
shall not he be slain ? " "No." " Shall not his hand be cut off ? " 
"No," said Abu 'Ubayda; "God has ordained retaliation only- 
blow for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook himself to 
Roman territory and became a Christian ; and he stayed there all 
the rest of his life. 2 

The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of Ghassan 
are hopelessly confused and supply hardly any material even for 
the rough historical sketch which may be pieced 

Harith the Lame. 6 ... 

together from the scattered notices in Byzantine 
authors.3 It would seem that the first unquestionable Ghas- 
sanid prince was Harith b. Jabala ('AptOag tov FafiaXa), who 
figures in Arabian chronicles as ' Harith the Lame,' and who 
was appointed by Justinian (about 529 a.d.) to balance, on the 
Roman side, the active and enterprising King of Hira, Mundhir 
b. Ma' al-sama. During the greater part of his long reign 
(529-569 a.d.) he was engaged in war with this dangerous 
rival, to whose defeat and death in the decisive battle of 
Halima we have already referred. Like all his line, Harith 
was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he defended 
with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence 

1 A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to 
the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639 a.d. 

2 Ibn Qutayba in Briinnow's Chrestomathy, pp. 26-28. 

3 The following details are extracted from Noldeke's monograph : Die 
Ghassdnischen Fursten aus dem Hause Gafna's, in Abhand. d. Kon. Prmss. 
Akad. d. Wisscnschaften (Berlin, 1887). 



52 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



was at stake. The following story illustrates his formidable 
character. Towards the end of his life he visited Constanti- 
nople to arrange with the Imperial Government which of his 
sons should succeed him, and made a powerful impression on 
the people of that city, especially on the Emperor's nephew, 
Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had fallen 
into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he 
began to rave, with " Hush ! Arethas will come and take you." 1 

Harith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished 
the new King of Hira, Qabus b. Hind, on Ascension Day, 

Mundhir b. 57° A « D «> in a battle which is perhaps identical 
* Ianth ' with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of 
'Ayn Ubagh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish 
him with money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing 
his advantage, and was the beginning of open hostility between 
them, which culminated about eleven years later in his being 
carried off to Constantinople and forced to reside in Sicily. 

From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine 
(614 a.d.) anarchy prevailed throughout the Ghassanid 
kingdom. The various tribes elected their own princes, who 
sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites ; but the dynasty had 
virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius 
when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 a.d.), as the 
Ghassanians are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against 
the Moslems, and according to the unanimous testimony of 
Arabian writers, the Jafnite Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an 
active part in the struggle, was the last king of Ghassan. 
His accession may be placed about 635 a.d. The poet 
Hassan b. Thabit, who as a native of Medina could claim 
kinship with the Ghassanids, and visited their court in his 
youth, gives a glowing description of its luxury and mag- 
nificence. 

1 Noldeke, op. cit., p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. See The 
Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus, translated 
by R. Payne Smith, p. 168. 



THE JAFN1TE DYNASTY 53 



" I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek 
songs to the music of lutes, and five from Hira who had been pre- 
sented to King Jabala by Iyas b. Qabisa, 1 chanting 
Hassan b. Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from 
a i/tne Mecca and elsewhere for his delight ; and when he 
G court md would drink wine he sat on a couch of myrtle and 
jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, sur- 
rounded by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk. 
During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in 
summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers 
wore light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than cere- 
mony, 2 in the hot weather, and white furs, called fanak, 3 or the like, 
in the cold season ; and, by God, I was never in his company but 
he gave me the robe which he was wearing on that day, and many 
of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the rude with for- 
bearance ; he laughed without reserve and lavished his gifts before 
they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in conversa- 
tion : I never knew him offend in speech or act." 4 

Unlike the rival dynasty on the Euphrates, the Ghassanids 
had no fixed residence. They ruled the country round 
Damascus and Palmyra, but these places were never in their 
possession. The capital of their nomad kingdom was the 
temporary camp (in Aramaic, herta) which followed them to 
and fro, but was generally to be found in the Gaulonitis 

1 Iyas b. Qabisa succeeded Nu'man III as ruler of Hfra (602-611 a.d.). 
He belonged to the tribe of Tayyi'. See Rothstein, Lahmiden, p. 119. 

2 I read yatafaddalu for yanfasilu. The arrangement which the 
former word denotes is explained in Lane's Dictionary as " the throwing 
a portion of one's garment over his left shoulder, and drawing its ex- 
tremity under his right arm, and tying the two extremities together in a 
knot upon his bosom." 

3 The fanak is properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in 
Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by Muham- 
madans to other furs. 

* Aghdnl, xvi, 15, 11. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed from 
Hassan, the passage is apocryphal, but this does not seriously affect its 
value as evidence, if we consider that it is probably compiled from the 
poet's diwdn in which the Ghassanids are often spoken of. The par- 
ticular reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. Hassan's acquaint- 
ance with the Ghassanids belongs to the pagan period of his life, and he 
is known to have accepted Islam many years before Jabala began to 
reign. 



54 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



(al-Jawlan), south of Damascus. Thus under the quickening 
impulse of Hellenistic culture the Ghassanids developed a civi- 
lisation far superior to that of the Lakhmites, who, 
dvfiisaSon. just because of their half-barbarian character, 
were more closely in touch with the heathen 
Arabs, and exercised a deeper influence upon them. Some 
aspects of this civilisation have been indicated in the descrip- 
tion of Jabala b. al-Ayham's court, attributed to the poet 
Hassan. An earlier bard, the famous Nabigha, having fallen 
out of favour with Nu'man III of Hfra, fled to Syria, where 
he composed a splendid eulogy of the Ghassanids 
encomS * n h° nour °f his patron, King 'Amr, son of Harith 
the Lame. After celebrating their warlike 
prowess, which he has immortalised in the oft-quoted verse — 

" One fault they have : their swords are blunt of edge 
Through constant beating on their foemen's mail," 

he concludes in a softer strain : 

" Theirs is a liberal nature that God gave 
To no men else ; their virtues never fail. 
Their home the Holy Land : their faith upright : 
They hope to prosper if good deeds avail. 
Zoned in fair wise and delicately shod, 
They keep the Feast of Palms, when maidens pale, 
Whose scarlet silken robes on trestles hang, 
Greet them with odorous boughs and bid them hail. 
Long lapped in ease tho' bred to war, their limbs 
Green-shouldered vestments, white-sleeved, richly veil." 1 

The Pre-islamic history of the Bedouins is mainly a record 
of wars, or rather guerillas, in which a great deal of raiding 
and plundering was accomplished, as a rule without serious 
bloodshed. There was no lack of shouting ; volleys of vaunts 



1 Nabigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78 ; Noldeke's Delectus, p. 96. The 
whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in his Ancient 
Arabian Poetry, p. 95 sqq. 



HISTORY OF THE BEDOUINS 55 



and satires were exchanged ; camels and women were carried 
off ; many skirmishes took place but few pitched battles : it 
was an Homeric kind of warfare that called forth individual 
exertion in the highest degree, and gave ample opportunity for 
single-handed deeds of heroism. " To write a true history of 
such Bedouin feuds is well-nigh impossible. As compara- 
tively trustworthy sources of information we have only the 
poems and fragments of verse which have been preserved. 

According to Suyuti, the Arabian traditionists 
Bedouin used to demand from any Bedouin who related 

an historical event the citation of some verses in 
its support ; and, in effect, all such stories that have come 
down to us are crystallised round the poems. Unfortunately 
these crystals are seldom pure. It appears only too often that 
the narratives have been invented, with abundant fancy and 
with more or less skill, to suit the contents of the verses." 1 
But although what is traditionally related concerning the 
Battle-days of the Arabs (Ayydmu U-'Jrab) is to a large extent 
legendary, it describes with sufficient fidelity how tribal hos- 
tilities generally arose and the way in which they were con- 
ducted. The following account of the War of Basus — the 
most famous of those waged in Pre-islamic times — will serve 
to illustrate this important phase of Bedouin life. 2 

Towards the end of the fifth century a.d. Kulayb, son of Rabi'a, 
was chieftain of the Banu Taghlib, a powerful tribe which divided 
with their kinsmen, the Banu Bakr, a vast tract in 
Basis? north-eastern Arabia, extending from the central 
highlands to the Syrian desert. His victory at the 
head of a confederacy formed by these tribes and others over the 
Yemenite Arabs made him the first man in the peninsula, and soon 
his pride became no less proverbial than his power. 3 He was 



1 Thorbecke, l Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, p. 14. 

2 The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War 
of Basus as related in Tibrizi's commentary on the Hamdsa (ed. by 
Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. Cf. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 39 sqq. 

3 See p. 5 supra. 



r 



56 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



married to Halila, daughter of Murra, of the Band Bakr, and dwelt 
in a 'preserve' (himd), where he claimed the sole right of pasturage 
for himself and the sons of Murra. His brother-in-law, Jassas, had 
an aunt named Basus. While living under her nephew's protection 
she was joined by a certain Sa'd, a client of her own people, who 
brought with him a she-camel called Sarabi. 

Now it happened that Kulayb, seeing a lark's nest as he walked 
on his land, said to the bird, which was screaming and fluttering 

distressfully over her eggs, " Have no fear ! I will 
Rab?a b and P r °t ec t thee." But a short time afterwards he 
jassas b. Murra. observed in that place the track of a strange camel 

and found the eggs trodden to pieces. Next morning 
when he and Jassas visited the pasture ground, Kulayb noticed the 
she-camel of Sa'd among his brother-in-law's herd, and conjecturing 
that she had destroyed the eggs, cried out to Jassas, " Take heed 
thou ! Take heed ! I have pondered something, and were I sure, 
I would have done it ! May this she-camel never come here again 
with this herd ! " " By God," exclaimed Jassas, " but she shall 
come ! " and when Kulayb threatened to pierce her udder with an 
arrow, Jassas retorted, " By the stones of Wa'il, 1 fix thine arrow in 
her udder and I will fix my lance in thy backbone ! " Then he 
drove his camels forth from the himd. Kulayb went home in a 
passion, and said to his wife, who sought to discover what ailed 
him, " Knowest thou any one who durst defend his client against 
me ? " She answered, " No one except my brother Jassas, if he has 
given his word." She did what she could to prevent the quarrel 
going further, and for a time nothing worse than taunts passed 
between them, until one day Kulayb went to look after his camels 
which were being taken to water, and were followed by those of 

Jassas. While the latter were waiting their turn to 
Th of W Sa'd , s ing drink, Sa'd's she-camel broke loose and ran towards 
she-camel. the water. Kulayb imagined that Jassas had let her 

go deliberately, and resenting the supposed insult, he 
seized his bow and shot her through the udder. The beast lay 
down, moaning loudly, before the tent of Basus, who in vehement 
indignation at the wrong suffered by her friend, Sa'd, tore the veil 
from her head, beating her face and crying, " O shame, shame ! " 
Then, addressing Sa'd, but raising her voice so that Jassas might 



1 Wa'il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of 
stones (ansdb) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen, Reste 
Arabischen Heidentums (2nd ed.), p. 101 sqq. Robertson Smith, Lectures 
on the Religion of the Semites (London, 1894), p. 200 sqq. 



THE WAR OF BAS&S 



57 



hear, she spoke these verses, which are known as ' The Instigators ' 
(al-Muwaththibdt) : — 

"0 Sa'd, be not deceived! Protect thyself! 
This people for their clients have no care. 

Look to my herds, I charge thee, for I doubt 
V by e BSs en Even ™y little daughters ill may fare. 

By thy life, had I been in Minqafs house, 
Thou would! st not have been wronged, my client, there ! 
But now such folk I dwell among that when 
The wolf comes, 'tis my sheep he comes to tear ! " 1 

Jassas was stung to the quick by the imputation, which no Arab 
can endure, that injury and insult might be inflicted upon his guest- 
friend with impunity. Some days afterwards, having ascertained 
that Kulayb had gone out unarmed, he followed and slew him, and 
fled in haste to his own people. Murra, when he heard the news, 
said to his son, " Thou alone must answer for thy deed : thou shalt 
be put in chains that his kinsmen may slay thee. By the stones of 

Wa'il, never will Bakr and Taghlib be joined together 
muniered b * n we ^ are a ^ er tne death of Kulayb. Verily, an evil 
jassas. y thing hast thou brought upon thy people, O Jassas ! 

Thou hast slain their chief and severed their union 
and cast war into their midst." So he put Jassas in chains and con- 
fined him in a tent ; then he summoned the elders of the families 
and asked them, " What do ye say concerning Jassas ? Here he is, 
a prisoner, until the avengers demand him and we deliver him unto 
them." " No, by God," cried Sa'd b. Malik b. Dubay'a b. Qays, " we 
will not give him up, but will fight for him to the last man ! " With 
these words he called for a camel to be sacrificed, and when its 
throat was cut they swore to one another over the blood. There- 
upon Murra said to Jassas : — 

" // thou hast plucked down war on me, 
No laggard I with arms outworn. 
Whateer befall, I make to flow 
Ve Tef f ath I er rra ' The baneful cups of death at morn. 

of Jassas. 

When spear-points clash, my wounded man 
Is forced to drag the spear he stained. 
Never I reck, if war must be, 
What Destiny hath preordained. 



1 Hamdsa, 422, 14 sqq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 39, last line and foil. 



58 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



Donning war's harness, I will strive 

To fend from me the shame that sears. 

Already I thrill and eager am 

For the shock of the horsemen against the spears!" 1 

Thus began the War of Basus between Taghlib on the one side 
and the clan of Shayban, to which Murra belonged, on the other ; 

for at first the remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof 
wa?between from the struggle, considering Shayban to be clearly 
Taghlib and m the wr0 ng. The latter were reduced to dire straits, 

Bakr. & ' 

when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites 
to rise as one man on behalf of their fellows. Harith b. 'Ubad, 
a famous knight of Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, 
saying in words which became proverbial, " I have neither camel 
nor she-camel in it," i.e., "it is no affair of mine." One day his 
nephew, Bujayr, encountered Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom 
the mantle of the murdered chief had fallen ; and Muhalhil, struck 
with admiration for the youth's comeliness, asked him who he was. 
"Bujayr," said he, "the son of 'Amr, the son of 'Ubad." "And 
who is thy uncle on the mother's side ? " " My mother is a cap- 
tive " (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). 
Then Muhalhil slew him, crying, " Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet !" 
On hearing this, Harith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he 
declared that if vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, 
he for his part would gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, " I 
have taken satisfaction only for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon 
Harith sprang up in wrath and cried : — 

" God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho' 
I am burned in it to-day. 
A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear : 
To horse ! To horse ! Away ! " 2 

And al-Find, of the Band Bakr, said on this occasion : — 

" We spared the Banu, Hind 3 and said, * Our brothers they remain : 
It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.' 



1 Hamdsa, 423, 11 sqq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 41, 1. 3 sqq. 

2 Hamdsa, 252, 8 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 44, 1. 3 seq. 

3 Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the Banu Hind (Sons 
of Hind) are the Taghlibites, 



THE WAR OF BAStfS 



59 



But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked III stood plain, 

And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them 

Verses by bane wiih fj ane t 

al-Fmd. 

As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high 
disdain : 

Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in theii 
train, 

Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled 
amain. 

No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain ; 

'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane: 

By evil thou mayst win to peace when good is tried in vain." 1 

The Barm Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their 
enemy had the advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem 
devised by Harith. " Fight them," said he, " with your women. 
Equip every woman with a small waterskin and give her a club. 
Place the whole body of them behind you — this will make you more 
resolved in battle — and wear some distinguishing mark which they 
will recognise, so that when a woman passes by one of your 
wounded she may know him by his mark and give him water to 
drink, and raise him from the ground ; but when she passes by one 
of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the 
Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to 

T Shearin<*° f death, and made this a mark of recognition between 
themselves and their women, and this day was called 
the Day of Shearing. Now Jahdar b. Dubay'a was an ill-favoured, 
dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, "O my 
people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my locks 
for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the hill-pass 
on the morrow " (meaning " I will answer for him, if my locks are 
spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed : — 

" To wife and daughter 
Henceforth I am dead : 
Dust for ointment 
On my hair is shed. 

Let me close with the horsemen 
The vow of Who hither ride, 

Jahdar b. - 

Dubay'a. Cut my locks from me 

If I stand aside ! 



1 Hamdsa, 9, 17 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 45, 1. 10 sqq. 



6o THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



Well wots a mother 

If the son she bore 
And swaddled in her bosom 

And smelt him o'er, 

Whenever warriors 
In the mellay meet, 

Is a puny weakling 
Or a man complete ! " 1 



He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely 
wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks 
and imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their 
clubs. 

The presence of women on the field and the active share they 
took in the combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If 
they were not engaged in finishing the bloody work of 
comSatants *he men > their ton g ues were busy inciting them. We 
are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself 
recklessly and chanted : — 

" War ! War ! War ! War ! 
It has blazed up and scorched us sore. 
The highlands are filled with its roar. 
Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore ! " 2 

The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender 
age did not always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is 
related that a horseman of the Banu Taghlib transfixed a young boy 
and lifted him up on the point of his spear. He is said to have been 
urged to this act of savagery by one al-Bazbaz, who was riding 
behind him on the crupper. Their triumph was short ; al-Find saw 
them, and with a single spear-thrust pinned them to each other — an 
exploit which his own verses record. 

On this day the Banu Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the 
power of Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty 
Years' War, which was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until 
the exhaustion of both tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III 
of Hira brought it to an end. 

Not many years after the conclusion of peace between 



1 Hamdsa, 252, 14 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 46, 1. 16 sqq. 

2 Hamdsa, 254, 6 seq. Noldeke's Delectus, p. 47, 1. 2 seq. , 



THE WAR OF DAHIS AND GHABRA 61 



Baler and Taghlib, another war, hardly less famous in tradition 
than the War of Basils, broke out in Central Arabia. The 
combatants were the tribes of 'Abs and Dhu- 
D%ls and f byan, the principal stocks of the Banu Ghatafan, 
Ghabra. an( j ^ occas j on Q f their coming to blows is 

related as follows : — 

Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of 'Abs. He had a horse 
called Dahis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against 
Ghabra, a mare belonging to Hudhayfa b. Badr, the chief of 
Dhubyan. It was agreed that the course should be a hundred 
bow-shots in length, and that the victor should receive a hundred 
camels. When the race began Ghabra took the lead, but as they 
left the firm ground and entered upon the sand, where the ' going ' 
was heavy, Dahis gradually drew level and passed his antagonist. 
He was nearing the goal when some Dhubyanites sprang from an 
ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove him out of his course, 
thus enabling Ghabra to defeat him. On being informed of this 
foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won the wager, but 
the men of Dhubyan refused to pay even a single camel. Bitterly 
resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one of Hudhayfa's 
brothers. Hudhayfa sought vengeance, and the murder of Malik, 
a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal for war. In the 
fighting which ensued Dhubyan more than held their own, but 
neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew the 
brothers Hudhayfa and Hamal — 

"Hamal I slew and eased my heart thereby, 
Hudhayfa glutted my avenging brand; 
But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them, 
I would as lief have lost my own right hand." 1 

After a long period — forty years according to the traditional 
computation — 'Abs and Dhubyan were reconciled by the exertions 
of two chieftains of the latter tribe, Harith b. f Awf and Harim b. 



1 Hamdsa, 96. Ibn Nubata, cited by Rasmussen, Additamcnta ad His- 
torian! Arabum ante Islamismum, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no one 
had ever lamented a foe slain by himself {wa-huwa awwalu man rathd 
maqtulahu). 



62 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



Sinan, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr 
has celebrated. Qays went into exile. " I will not look," he said, 
" on the face of any woman of Dhubyan whose father or brother or 
husband or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he 
became a Christian monk and ended his days in 'Uman. 

Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the 
traveller gradually approaches the Red Sea, which is separated 
from the mountains running parallel to it by a 

The Hijaz. . n -t^., r 

narrow strip of coast-land, called the Tihama 
(Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the 
coast forms the Hijaz (Barrier), through which in ancient 
times the Sabaean caravans laden with costly merchandise 
passed on their way to the Mediterranean ports. Long before 
the beginning of our era two considerable trading settlements 
had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, 
some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre- 
islamic name of Medina). Of their early inhabitants and 
history we know nothing except what is related by Muham- 
madan writers, whose information reaches back to the days of 
Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and 
Islam, according to Muhammad, is the religion of Abraham, 
which was corrupted by succeeding generations until he him- 
self was sent to purify it and to preach it anew. Consequently 
the Pre-islamic history of Mecca has all been, so to speak, 
' Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made to appear in 
the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's time : 
here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, 
hence they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither they return 
annually as pilgrims to a shrine which had been originally 
dedicated to the One Supreme Being, but which afterwards 
became a Pantheon of tribal deities. This theory lies at the 
root of the Muhammadan legend which I shall now recount 
as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points of 
interest. 

In the Meccan valley — the primitive home of that portion 



EARLY HISTORY OF MECCA 63 



of the Arab race which claims descent from Isma'll (Ishmael), 
the son of Ibrahim (Abraham) by Hajar (Hagar) — stands an 

irregular, cube-shaped building of small dimensions 
F toeK£t£. of ~ the Ka'ba. Legend attributes its foundation 

to Adam, who built it by Divine command after 
a celestial archetype. At the Deluge it was taken up into 
heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site by Abraham and 
Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel 
brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the south- 
east corner of the building, and he also instructed them in the 
ceremonies of the Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham 
stood on a rock known to later ages as the Maqamu Ibrahim^ 
and, turning to the four quarters of the sky, made proclama- 
tion : "O ye people ! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient House 
is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord ! " And 
from every part of the world came the answer : "Labbayka 
'llahumma, labbayka " — i,e. y " We obey, O God, we obey." 

The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that 
the barren valley could no longer support them, and a great 
number wandered forth to other lands. They were succeeded 
as rulers of the sacred territory by the tribe of Jurhum, who 
waxed in pride and evil-doing until the vengeance of God fell 
upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the Burst- 
ing of the Dyke of Ma'rib, which caused an extensive move- 
ment of Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted 
in the Hijaz and, having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, 
resumed their journey. One group, however — the Bami 
Khuza'a, led by their chief Luhayy — settled in the neigh- 
bourhood of Mecca. 'Amr, son of Luhayy, was renowned 
among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity. Ibn Hisham 
says : 1 1 have been told by a learned man that 'Amr b. Luhayy 

went from Mecca to Syria on some business 
ducedaTMecS. and when he arrived at Ma'ab, in the land 

of al-Balqa, he found the inhabitants, who were 
'Amaliq, worshipping idols. " What are these idols ? " he in- 



64 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



quired. " They are idols that send us rain when we ask them 
for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." " Will ye 
not give me one of them," said c Amr, " that I may take it to 
Arabia to be worshipped there ? " So they gave him an idol 
called Hubal, which he brought to Mecca and set it up and 
bade the people worship and venerate it.' 1 Following his 
example, the Arabs brought their idols and installed them 
round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was com- 
plete. We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by 
Muhammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem 
army in 8 a.h. = 629 a.d. 

To return to the posterity of Isma'il through 'Adnan : the 
principal of their descendants who remained in the Hijaz were 
the Hudhayl, the Kinana, and the Ouraysh. The 

TheQuraysh. . , ., 

last-named tribe must now engage our attention 
almost exclusively. During the century before Muhammad 
we find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknow- 
ledged guardians of the Ka'ba — an office which they adminis- 
tered with a shrewd appreciation of its commercial value. 
Their rise to power is related as follows : — 

Kilab b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. 
The latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon 

afterwards his mother, Fatima, who had married again, 
T Qusayy ° f left Mecca, taking Zayd with her, and went to live in 

her new husband's home beside the Syrian borders. 
Zayd grew up far from his native land, and for this reason he got 
the name of Qusayy — i.e., 1 Little Far-away.' When he reached 
man's estate and discovered his true origin he returned to Mecca, 
where the hegemony was wholly in the hands of the Khuza'ites 
under their chieftain, Hulayl b. Hubshiyya, with the determination 
to procure the superintendence of the Ka'ba for his own people, the 
Ouraysh, who as pure-blooded descendants of Ismail had the best 
right to that honour. By his marriage with Hubba, the daughter of 
Hulayl, he hoped to inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, 
but Hulayl on his death-bed committed the keys of the Ka'ba to a 



1 Ibn Hisham, p. 51, 1. 7 sqq. 



THE QURAYSH 



65 



kinsman named Abu Ghubshan. Not to be baffled, Qusayy made 
the keeper drunk and persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of 
wine — hence the proverbs "A greater fool than Abu Ghubshan" 
and "Abu Ghubshan' s bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. 
Naturally the Khuza'ites did not acquiesce in the results of this 
transaction ; they took up arms, but Qusayy was prepared for the 
struggle and won a decisive victory. He was now master of Temple 
and Town and could proceed to the work of organisation. His first 
step was to bring together the Quraysh, who had 
^ U of a Mecca Ster P rev i° usr y been dispersed over a wide area, into the 
Meccan valley — this earned for him the title of al- 
Mujammi' (the Congregator) — so that each family had its allotted 
quarter. He built a House of Assembly (Ddru 'l-Nadwa), where 
matters affecting the common weal were discussed by the Elders of 
the tribe. He also instituted and centred in himself a number of 
dignities in connection with the government of the Ka'ba and the 
administration of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and 
military character. Such was his authority that after his death, no 
less than during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the 
Quraysh as sacred and inviolable. 

The death of Qusayy may be placed in the latter half of the 
fifth century. His descendant, the Prophet Muhammad, was 
born about a hundred years afterwards, in 570 or 

Mecca in the TTT . . . . . , 

sixth century 57 1 a.d. With one notable exception, to be 

after Christ. ' . . . .. - . _ ' _ 

mentioned immediately, the history of Mecca 
during the period thus defined is a record of petty factions 
unbroken by any event of importance. The Prophet's 
ancestors fill the stage and assume a commanding position, 
which in all likelihood they never possessed ; the historical 
rivalry of the Umayyads and 'Abbasids appears in the persons 
of their founders, Umayya and Hashim — and so forth. Mean- 
while the influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained 
and extended. The Ka'ba had become a great national 
rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which it attracted 
from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit ot 
the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their com- 
mercial prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, 
the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against 

6 



66 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



Mecca with the avowed purpose of avenging upon the Ka'ba 
a sacrilege committed by one of the Quraysh in the church 
at San'a. Something of that kind may have served as a 
pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and 
to gain control of her trade. 

This memorable expedition 1 is said by Moslem historians 
to have taken place in the year of Muhammad's birth (about 

570 a.d.), usually known as the Year of the 
the Elephant. Elephant — a proof that the Arabs were deeply 

impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these 
huge animals, one or more of which accompanied the 
Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's preparations filled 
the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured to 
oppose his march, regarding the defence of the Ka'ba as a 
sacred duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after 
defeating Dhu Nafar, a Himyarite chieftain, encamped in the 
neighbourhood of Mecca without further resistance. He sent 

the following message to 'Abdu '1-Muttalib, the 
The at A M y ec S ca! ans Prophet's grandfather, who was at that time the 

most influential personage in Mecca : " I have 
not come to wage war on you, but only to destroy the 
Temple. Unless you take up arms in its defence, I have 
no wish to shed your blood." 'Abdu '1-Muttalib replied : 
"By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This 
is God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend ; 
it is for Him to protect His House and Sanctuary ; if He 
abandons it, we cannot defend it." 

Then 'Abdu '1-Muttalib was conducted by the envoy to the 
Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after 
•Abdu 'l Mutta ^ u Nafar, who was his friend, and found him a 
lib's interview prisoner. "O Dhu Nafar," said he, "can you do 
with Abraha. aught in that wMch has befallen us? » D hu Nafar 

answered, " What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a 



1 In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed 
Tabari, i, 936, 9 - 945, 19 = Noldeke's translation, pp. 206-220. 



THE ABYSSINIAN INVASION 67 



king, expecting day and night to be put to death ? I can do nothing 
at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend ; I 
will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and ask 
him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what 
you wish : he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." 
So Dhu Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, 'Abdu 
1-Muttalib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of Mecca. 
He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on the 
mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels. 
Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the 
best of your power." Unays consented, and soon 'Abdu '1-Muttalib 
stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too 
high respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling 
that the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large 
man and a comely, seated on a level with himself ; he therefore 
descended from his throne and sat on his carpet and bade 'Abdu 
'1-Muttalib sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask 
him what he wants of me." 'Abdu '1-Muttalib replied, " I want the 
king to restore to me two hundred camels of mine which he has 
taken away." Abraha said to the dragoman, " Tell him : You 
pleased me when I first saw you, but now that you have spoken to 
me I hold you cheap. What ! do you speak to me of two hundred 
camels which I have taken, and omit to speak of a temple venerated 
by you and your fathers which I have come to destroy ? " Then said 
'Abdu '1-Muttalib : " The camels are mine, but the Temple belongs 
to another, who will defend it," and on the king exclaiming, " He 
cannot defend it from me," he said, " That is your affair ; only give 
me back my camels." 

As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled round 
Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom 'Abdu '1-Muttalib was one, offer- 
ing to surrender a third part of their possessions to Abraha on con- 
dition that he should spare the Temple, but he refused. Having 
recovered his camels, 'Abdu '1-Muttalib returned to the Quraysh, 
told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city and 
take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the Ka'ba, accom- 
panied by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against Abraha 
and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried : — 

"0 God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear 1 
defendeth ! 

Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself 
intendeth ! 

But if Thou make it so, 'tis well: according to Thy will it endeth.'' 2 



1 I read hildlak. See Glossary to Tabari. 



2 Tabari, i, 940, 13. 



68 THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his 
elephant knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its 
head with an axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks ; but when 
they turned it in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with 
alacrity. Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows 
every one of which carried three stones as large as a 
Ab°y U ssinians. chick-pea or a lentil, one in its bill and one in each 
claw, and all who were struck by those stones perished. 1 
The rest fled in disorder, dropping down as they ran or wherever 
they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha himself was smitten 
with a plague so that his limbs rotted off piecemeal. 2 

These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the 
Koran, entitled i The Sura of the Elephant,' which may be 
freely rendered as follows : — 



" Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt with 
them the Lord ? 
Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred ? — 
When He sent against them birds, horde on horde, 
And stones of baked clay upon them poured, 
And made them as leaves of corn devoured." 



The part played by 'Abdu '1-Muttalib in the story is, or 
course, a pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and 
to claim for the Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a 
predominance which they did not obtain until long afterwards ; 
but equally of course the legend reflects Muhammadan belief, 
and may be studied with advantage as a characteristic specimen 
of its class. 

" When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and 
smote them with His vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh 

1 Another version says : " Whenever a man was struck sores and 
pustules broke out on that part of his body. This was the first appearance 
of the small-pox " (Tabari, i, 945, 2 sqq.). Here we have the historical 
fact — an outbreak of pestilence in the Abyssinian army — which gave rise 
to the legend related above. 

2 There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen 
for some time after his defeat. 



ROUT OF THE A B YSSINIA NS 69 



in high respect and said, * They are God's people : God hath 
fought for them and hath defended them against their enemy ; ' 
and made poems on this matter." 1 The following verses, 
according to Ibn Ishaq, are by Abu '1-Salt b. AM Rabf'a of 
Thaqi'f ; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son 
Umayya, a well-known poet and monotheist (Hanif) con- 
temporary with Muhammad : — 

" Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting, 
None disputes them except the unbeliever. 
He created Day and Night : unto all men 
Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain. 
Gracious Lord ! He illumines the daytime 
With a sun widely scattering radiance. 
^ ers r f b by Abi He tne Elephant stayed at Mughammas 
i-Sait. So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung, 
Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped, 
As one falls from the crag of a mountain. 
Gathered round it were princes of Kinda, 
Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay. 
There they left it : they all fled together, 
Every man with his shank-bone broken. 
Vain before God is every religion, 
When the dead rise, except the Hamfite. 2 " 

The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the Hijaz 
by the Abyssinian invasion — feelings which must have been 
shared to some extent by the Bedouins generally — received a 
fresh stimulus through events which occurred about forty years 
after this time on the other side of the peninsula. It will be 
remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at Hira came to an 
end with Nu'man III, who was cruelly executed by Khusraw 
Parwez (602 or 607 a.d.).3 Before his death he had deposited 
his arms and other property with Hani', a chieftain of the 
Banu Bakr. These were claimed by Khusraw, and as Hani' 
refused to give them up, a Persian army was sent to Dhii Qdr, 

1 Ibn Hisham, p. 38, 1. 14 sqq. 2 Ibid., p. 40, 1. 12 sqq. 

3 See pp. 48-49 supra. 



7o THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 



a place near Kufa abounding in water and consequently a 
favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry season. A 
desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians 

Battle of Dhu r . .. . a 1 i i 

Qar(«>ca6io were completely routed. 1 Although the forces 
engaged were comparatively small, 2 this victory 
was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the com- 
mencement of a new order of things ; e.g., it is related that 
Muhammad said when the tidings reached him : " This is the 
first day on which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from 
the Persians." The desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by 
the Sasanian Empire and held in check by the powerful 
dynasty of Hira, were now confident and aggressive. They 
began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no longer 
feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled 
in the dust. 

1 Full details are given by Tabari, i, 1016-1037 = Noldeke's translation, 
pp. 311-345. 

2 A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians 
Tabari, i, 1036, 5-6). 



CHAPTER III 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION 

f When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the 
other tribes round about would gather together to that family 
and wish them joy of their good luck. Feasts would be got 
ready, the women of the tribe would join together in bands, 
playing upon lutes, as they were wont to do at bridals, and the 
men and boys would congratulate one another ; for a poet was 
a defence to the honour of them all, a weapon to ward off 
insult from their good name, and a means of perpetuating their 
glorious deeds and of establishing their fame for ever. And 
they used not to wish one another joy but for three things — 
the birth of a boy, the coming to light of a poet, and the 
foaling of a noble mare." 1 

As far as extant literature is concerned — and at this time 
there was only a spoken literature, which was preserved by 
oral tradition, and first committed to writing long afterwards 
— the ydhiliyya or Pre-islamic Age covers scarcely more than 
a century, from about 500 a.d., when the oldest poems of 
which we have any record were composed, to the year of 
Muhammad's Flight to Medina (622 a.d.), which is the 
starting-point of a new era in Arabian history. The influence 
of these hundred and twenty years was great and lasting. 

1 Ibn Rashiq in Suyuti's Muzhir (Bulaq, 1282 A.H.), Part II, p. 236, 1. 22 
sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to his 
Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 17, a most admirable work which should be 
placed in the hands of every one who is beginning the study of this 
difficult subject. 

71 



72 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



They saw the rise and incipient decline of a poetry which 
most Arabic-speaking Moslems have always regarded as a 
model of unapproachable excellence ; a poetry rooted in the 
life of the people, that insensibly moulded their minds and 
fixed their character and made them morally and spiritually a 
nation long before Muhammad welded the various conflicting 
groups into a single organism, animated, for some time at 
least, by a common purpose. In those days poetry was no 
luxury for the cultured few, but the sole medium of literary 
expression. Every tribe had its poets, who freely uttered what 
they felt and thought. Their unwritten words " flew across 
the desert faster than arrows," and came home to the hearts 
and bosoms of all who heard them. Thus in the midst of 
outward strife and disintegration a unifying principle was at 
work. Poetry gave life and currency to an ideal of Arabian 
virtue (muruwwa), which, though based on tribal community 
of blood and insisting that only ties of blood were sacred, 
nevertheless became an invisible bond between diverse clans, 
and formed, whether consciously or not, the basis of a national 
community of sentiment. 

In the following pages I propose to trace the origins of 
Arabian poetry, to describe its form, contents, and general 
features, to give some account of the most cele- 
Arabian in poetry Drate cl Pre-islamic poets and collections of Pre- 
islamic verse, and finally to show in what manner 
it was preserved and handed down. 

By the ancient Arabs the poet (shd c ir, plural shu'ard), as his 
name implies, was held to be a person endowed with super- 
natural knowledge, a wizard in league with spirits (jinn) or 
satans (shayatlri) and dependent on them for the magical 
powers which he displayed. This view of his personality, 
as well as the influential position which he occupied, are curi- 
ously indicated by the story of a certain youth who was refused 
the hand of his beloved on the ground that he was neither a poet 



THE POET AS A WIZARD 73 



nor a soothsayer nor a water-diviner. 1 The idea of poetry as 
an art was developed afterwards ; the pagan shd'ir is the oracle 
of his tribe, their guide in peace and their champion in war. 
It was to him they turned for counsel when they sought new 
pastures, only at his word would they pitch or strike their houses 
of hair,' and when the tired and thirsty wanderers found a well 
and drank of its water and washed themselves, led by him they 
may have raised their voices together and sung, like Israel — 

" Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it." 2 

Besides fountain-songs, war-songs, and hymns to idols, 
other kinds of poetry must have existed in the earliest times — 
e.g.) the love-song and the dirge. The powers of the shd Q ir y 
however, were chiefly exhibited in Satire (hijd), which in the 
oldest known form " introduces and accompanies the tribal 
feud, and is an element of war just as important 
as the actual fighting." 3 The menaces which he 
hurled against the foe were believed to be inevitably fatal. 
His rhymes, often compared to arrows, had all the effect of a 
solemn curse spoken by a divinely inspired prophet or priest,4 
and their pronunciation was attended with peculiar ceremonies 
of a symbolic character, such as anointing the hair on one side 
of the head, letting the mantle hang down loosely, and wear- 
ing only one sandal.S Satire retained something of these 
ominous associations at a much later period when the magic 
utterance of the shdHr had long given place to the lampoon 

1 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 494. 

2 Numb, xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert 
(see Enno Littmann, Neuarabische Volkspoesie, in Abhand. der Kon. Gesell- 
schaft der Wissenschaften, Phil. -Hist. Klasse, Gottingen, 1901), p. 92. In 
a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the words witla yd dlewena — i.e., " Rise, 
O bucket ! " several times repeated. 

3 Goldziher, Ueber die Vorgeschichte der Higd'-Poesie in his Abhand. zur 
Arab. Philologie, Parti (Leyden, 1896), p. 26. 

4 Cf. the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks thereon, 
ibid., p. 42 seq. 

s Ibid., p. 46 seq. 



74 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 

by which the poet reviles his enemies and holds them up to 
shame. 

The obscure beginnings of Arabian poetry, presided over 
by the magician and his familiar spirits, have left not a 
rack behind in the shape of literature, but the task 
of reconstruction is comparatively easy where we 
are dealing with a people so conservative and tenacious of 
antiquity as the Arabs. Thus it may be taken for certain 
that the oldest form of poetical speech in Arabia was rhyme 
without metre (Saj c ) y or, as we should say, ' rhymed prose,' 
although the fact of Muhammad's adversaries calling him a 
poet because he used it in the Koran shows the light in which 
it was regarded even after the invention and elaboration of 
metre. Later on, as we shall see, Saj* became a merely 
rhetorical ornament, the distinguishing mark of all eloquence 
whether spoken or written, but originally it had a deeper, 
almost religious, significance as the special form adopted by 
poets, soothsayers, and the like in their supernatural revelations 
and for conveying to the vulgar every kind of mysterious and 
esoteric lore. 

Out of Saj* was evolved the most ancient of the Arabian 
metres, which is known by the name of Rajaz. 1 This is an 
irregular iambic metre usually consisting of four 
or six — an Arab would write 6 two or three ' — 
feet to the line ; and it is a peculiarity of Rajaz, marking its 
affinity to Saj\ that all the lines rhyme with each other, 
whereas in the more artificial metres only the opening verse 2 

1 Rajaz primarily means "a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) in 
the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his interest- 
ing theory that the Arabian metres arose out of the camel-driver's song 
(hidd) in harmony with the varying paces of the animal which he rode 
(Studien in arabischen Dichtern, Heft III, p. 179 sqq.). 

2 The Arabic verse (bayt) consists of two halves or hemistichs (misrd^. 
It is generally convenient to use the word ' line ' as a translation of misrd 1 , 
but the reader must understand that the 1 line ' is not, as in English 
poetry, an independent unit. Rajaz is the sole exception to this rule, there 
being here no division into hemistichs, but each line (verse) forming an 
unbroken whole and rhyming with that which precedes it. 



ARABIAN METRES 



75 



is doubly rhymed. A further characteristic of Rajaz is that 
it should be uttered extempore, a few verses at a time — com- 
monly verses expressing some personal feeling, emotion, or 
experience, like those of the aged warrior Durayd b. Zayd b. 
Nahd when he lay dying : — 

" The house of death 1 is builded for Durayd to-day. 
Could Time be worn out, sure had I worn Time away. 
No single foe but I had faced and brought to bay. 
The spoils I gathered in, how excellent were they ! 
The women that I loved, how fine was their array !" 2 

Here would have been the proper place to give an account 
of the principal Arabian metres — the ' Perfect ' (Kdmil), the 
4 Ample' [W&fir\ the 'Long' (TawU), the 
other metres. c Wide > (Bask), the 'Light' (Khaflj), and 
several more — but in order to save valuable space I must 
content myself with referring the reader to the extremely 
lucid treatment of this subject by Sir Charles Lyall in the 
Introduction to his Ancient Arabian Poetry ', pp. xlv-lii. All 
the metres are quantitative, as in Greek and Latin. Their 
names and laws were unknown to the Pre-islamic bards : the 
rules of prosody were first deduced from the ancient poems and 
systematised by the grammarian, Khalil b. Ahmad (f 791 a.d.), 
to whom the idea is said to have occurred as he watched a 
coppersmith beating time on the anvil with his hammer. 

We have now to consider the form and matter of the oldest 
extant poems in the Arabic language. Between these highly 
developed productions and the rude doggerel of 
ex!ant°poems. Saj 6 or Rajaz there lies an interval, the length of 
which it is impossible even to conjecture. The 
first poets are already consummate masters of the craft. " The 
number and complexity of the measures which they use, their 
established laws of quantity and rhyme, and the uniform 

1 In Arabic ' al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for the 
grave. 

2 Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Shi'r wa-l-Shu l atd, p. 36, 1. 3 sqq. 



76 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 

manner in which they introduce the subject of their poems, 1 
notwithstanding the distance which often separated one com- 
poser from another, all point to a long previous study and 
cultivation of the art of expression and the capacities of their 
language, a study of which no record now remains." 2 

It is not improbable that the dawn of the Golden Age of 
Arabian Poetry coincided with the first decade of the sixth 
century after Christ. About that time the War 
of Basus, the chronicle of which has preserved a 
considerable amount of contemporary verse, was in full 
blaze ; and the first Arabian ode was composed, according 
to tradition, by Muhalhil b. Rabi'a the Taghlibite on the 
death of his brother, the chieftain Kulayb, which caused war 
to break out between Bakr and Taghlib. At any rate, during 
the next hundred years in almost every part of the peninsula 
we meet with a brilliant succession of singers, all using the 
same poetical dialect and strictly adhering to the same rules of 
composition. The fashion which they set maintained itself 
virtually unaltered down to the end of the Umayyad period 
(750 a.d.), and though challenged by some daring spirits under 
the 'Abbasid Caliphate, speedily reasserted its supremacy, which 
at the present day is almost as absolute as ever. 

This fashion centres in the Qasida y 3 or Ode, the only 
form, or rather the only finished type of poetry that existed 

1 Already in the sixth century a.d. the poet 'Antara complains that his 
predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (Mu'allaqa, v. 1). 

2 Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xvi. 

3 Qasida is explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem with 
an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in which 'pur- 
pose ' is to be understood. Modern critics are equally at variance. Jacob 
(Stud, in Arab. Dichtern, Heft III, p. 203) would derive the word from the 
principal motive of these poems, namely, to gain a rich reward in return 
for praiseiand flattery. Ahlwardt (Bemerkungen iiber die Aechtheit deralten 
Arab. Gedichte, p. 24 seq.) connects it with qasada, to break, "because it 
consists of verses, every one of which is divided into two halves, with a 
common end-rhyme : thus the whole poem is broken, as it were, into two 
halves ;" while in the Rajaz verses, as we have seen (p. 74 supra), there 
is no such break. 



THE QAStDA OR ODE 77 

in what, for want of a better word, may be called the classical 
period of Arabic literature. The verses (abydt^ singular bayi) 
of which it is built vary in number, but are seldom 
The Qasida. ^ than twenty-five or more than a hundred ; 
and the arrangement of the rhymes is such that, while the two 
halves of the first verse rhyme together, the same rhyme is 
repeated once in the second, third, and every following verse 
to the end of the poem. Blank-verse is alien to the Arabs, 
who regard rhyme not as a pleasing ornament or a " trouble- 
some bondage," but as a vital organ of poetry. The rhymes 
are usually feminine, e.g.^ szkhind, Uxlina^ muhind ; mukh/zi/, 
yadiy 'uvfwadi ; x\jamuha y si/dmuhd, hzrdmuhd. To surmount 
the difficulties of the monorhyme demands great technical 
skill even in a language of which the peculiar formation 
renders the supply of rhymes extraordinarily abundant. The 
longest of the Mtfallaqat^ the so-called 'Long Poems,' is 
considerably shorter than Gray's Elegy. An Arabian Homer 
or Chaucer must have condescended to prose. With respect 
to metre the poet may choose any except Rajaz^ which is 
deemed beneath the dignity of the Ode, but his liberty does 
not extend either to the choice of subjects or to the method of 
handling them : on the contrary, the course of his ideas is 
determined by rigid conventions which he durst not overstep. 

"I have heard," says Ibn Qutayba, "from a man of learning that 
the composer of Odes began by mentioning the deserted dwelling- 
places and the relics and traces of habitation. Then 
accountof b the ne we pt an d complained and addressed the desolate 
contents and encampment, and begged his companion to make a 

divisions of the , ... , , ■, • , , , . . , 

Ode. halt, in order that he might have occasion to speak 
of those who had once lived there and afterwards 
departed ; for the dwellers in tents were different from townsmen or 
villagers in respect of coming and going, because they moved from 
one water-spring to another, seeking pasture and searching out the 
places where rain had fallen. Then to this he linked the erotic 
prelude (nasib), and bewailed the - violence of his love and the 
anguish of separation from his mistress and the extremity of his 
passion and desire, so as to win the hearts of his hearers and divert 



78 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



their eyes towards him and invite their ears to listen to him, since 
the song of love touches men's souls and takes hold of their hearts, 
God havingiputit in the constitution of His creatures to love dalliance 
and the society of women, in such wise that we find very few but 
are attached thereto by some tie or have some share therein, whether 
lawful or unpermitted. Now, when the poet had assured himself of 
an attentive hearing, he followed up his advantage and set forth his 
claim : thus he went on to complain of fatigue and want of sleep 
and travelling by night and of the noonday heat, and how his camel 
had been reduced to leanness. And when, after representing all the 
discomfort and danger of his journey, he knew that he had fully 
justified his hope and expectation of receiving his due meed from 
the person to whom the poem was addressed, he entered upon the 
panegyric (madih), and incited him to reward, and kindled his 
generosity by exalting him above his peers and pronouncing the 
greatest dignity, in comparison with his, to be little." 1 

Hundreds of Odes answer exactly to this description, which 
must not, however, be regarded as the invariable model. The 
erotic prelude is often omitted, especially in elegies ; or if it 
does not lead directly to the main subject, it may be followed 
by a faithful and minute delineation of the poet's horse or 
camel which bears him through the wilderness with a speed 
like that of the antelope, the wild ass, or the ostrich : Bedouin 
poetry abounds in fine studies of animal life. 2 The choice of 
a motive is left open. Panegyric, no doubt, paid better than 
any other, and was therefore the favourite ; but in Pre- islamic 
times the poet could generally please himself. The qasida 
is no organic whole : rather its unity resembles that of a series 
of pictures by the same hand or, to employ an Eastern trope, 
of pearls various in size and quality threaded on a necklace. 

The ancient poetry may be defined as an illustrative criti- 

1 Kitdbu 'l-Shi'r wa-'l-Shu l ard, p. 14, 1. 10 sqq. 

2 Noldeke {Funf Mo'allaqdt, i, p. 3 sqq.) makes the curious observation, 
which illustrates the highly artificial character of this poetry, that certain 
animals well known to the Arabs {e.g., the panther, the jerboa, and the 
hare) are seldom mentioned and scarcely ever described, apparently for 
no reason except that they were not included in the conventional 
repertory. 



shanfarA 



79 



cism of Pre-islamic life and thought. Here the Arab has 
drawn himself at full length without embellishment or ex- 
tenuation. 

It is not mere chance that Abu Tammam's famous 
anthology is called the Hamasa, ue.^ * Fortitude,' from the 
title of its first chapter, which occupies nearly a half of the 
book. c Hamasa ' denotes the virtues most highly prized by 
the Arabs — bravery in battle, patience in misfortune, persist- 
ence in revenge, protection of the weak and defiance of the 
strong ; the will, as Tennyson has said, 



"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." 



As types of the ideal Arab hero we may take Shanfard of 
Azd and his comrade in foray, Ta'abbata Sharr an . 
Thei hero Arab Both were brigands, outlaws, swift runners, and 
excellent poets. Of the former 



*' it is said that he was captured when a child from his tribe by the 
Banu Salaman, and brought up among them : he did not learn his 
origin until he had grown up, when he vowed vengeance against 
his captors, and returned to his own tribe. His oath was that he 
would slay a hundred men of Salaman ; he slew ninety-eight, when 
an ambush of his enemies succeeded in taking him prisoner. In 
the struggle one of his hands was hewn off by a sword 
Shanfara. strokGj and> taking it in the other, he flung it in the 
face of a man of Salaman and killed him, thus making ninety-nine. 
Then he was overpowered and slain, with one still wanting to make 
up his number. As his skull lay bleaching on the ground, a man 
of his enemies passed by that way and kicked it with his foot ; a 
splinter of bone entered his foot, the wound mortified, and he died, 
thus completing the hundred." 1 



The following passage is translated from Shanfara's splendid 
Ode named Ldmiyyatu H-^Arab (the poem rhymed in / of the 

1 Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 83. 



8o 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



Arabs), in which he describes his own heroic character and 
the hardships of a predatory life: — 1 

" Somewhere the noble find a refuge afar from scathe, 
The outlaw a lonely spot where no kin with hatred burn. 
Oh, never a prudent man, night-faring in hope or fear, 
Hard pressed on the face of earth, but still he hath room to 
turn. 

To me now, in your default, are comrades a wolf untired, 
A sleek leopard, and a fell hyena with shaggy mane : 2 
True comrades, who yield not up the secret consigned to them, 
Nor basely forsake their friend because that he brought them 
bane. 

And each is a gallant heart and ready at honour's call, 
Yet I, when the foremost charge, am bravest of all the brave ; 
But if they with hands outstretched are seizing the booty won, 
The slowest am I whenas most quick is the greedy knave. 

By naught save my generous will I reach to the height of worth 
Above them, and sure the best is he with the will to give. 
Yea, well I am rid of those who pay not a kindness back, 
Of whom I have no delight though neighbours to me they live. 

Enow are companions three at last : an intrepid soul, 
A glittering trenchant blade, a tough bow of ample size, 
Loud-twanging, the sides thereof smooth-polished, a handsome 
bow 

Hung down from the shoulder-belt by thongs in a comely wise, 
That groans, when the arrow slips away, like a woman crushed 
By losses, bereaved of all her children, who wails and cries." 



1 Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the ' Long ' {Tawil) metre of 
the original, viz. : — 



The Arabic text of the Ldmiyya, with prose translation and commentary, 
is printed in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe (2nd ed.), vol. ii 2 , p. 134 sqq., 
and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English verse by 
G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by Noldeke, 
Beitriige zur Kcnntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber, p. 200. 

2 The poet, apparently, means that his three friends are like the animals 
mentioned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this interpretation is 
doubtful, since an Arab would scarcely compare his friend to a hyena. 



TA' ABB ATA SHARR 



81 



On quitting his tribe, who cast him out when they were 
threatened on all sides by enemies seeking vengeance for the 
blood that he had spilt, Shanfara said : — 

" Bury me not ! Me you are forbidden to bury, 
But thou, O hyena, soon wilt feast and make merry, 
When foes bear away mine head, wherein is the best of me, 
And leave on the battle-field for thee all the rest of me. 
Here nevermore I hope to live glad — a stranger 
Accurst, whose wild deeds have brought his people in danger." 1 

Thabit b. Jabir b. Sufyan of Fahm is said to have got his 
nickname, Ta'abbata Sharr an , because one day his mother, who 

had seen him go forth from his tent with a sword 
T ihSanf under his arm, on being asked, " Where is 

Thabit ? " replied, " I know not : he put a 
mischief under his arm-pit (tofabbata sharr* n ) and departed." 
According to another version of the story, the 'mischief 
was a Ghoul whom he vanquished and slew and carried home 
in this manner. The following lines, which he addressed to 
his cousin, Shams b. Malik, may be applied with equal justice 
to the poet himself : — 

" Little he complains of labour that befalls him ; much he wills ; 
Diverse ways attempting, mightily his purpose he fulfils. 
Through one desert in the sun's heat, through another in star- 
light, 

Lonely as the wild ass, rides he bare-backed Danger noon and 
night. 

He the foremost wind outpaceth, while in broken gusts it blows, 
Speeding onward, never slackening, never staying for repose. 
Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well — 
Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel. 
When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his 
hand 

From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled 
brand. 



1 Hamasa, 242. 

7 



82 



P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe, 
How the grinning Fates in open glee their flashing side-teeth 
show ! 

Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead 
By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led." 1 

These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian 
virtues of courage, hardness, and strength. We must now 
take a wider survey of the moral ideas on which pagan society 
was built, and of which Pre-islamic poetry is at once the pro- 
mulgation and the record. There was no written code, no 
legal or religious sanction — nothing, in effect, save the binding 
force of traditional sentiment and opinion, i.e.. 

The old Arabian TT TTri . . .. . ' . 

points of Honour. What, then, are the salient points of 
honour in which Virtue (Muruwwa\ as it was 
understood by the heathen Arabs, consists ? 

Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like 
that of the ancient Greeks, " dependent upon excitement and 
vanishing quickly before depression and delay." 2 
Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, as 
he appears, e.g. y in the Mu^allaqa of 'Amr b. Kulthum. 
When there is little to lose by flight he will ride off un- 
ashamed ; but he will fight to the death for his womenfolk, 
who in serious warfare often accompanied the tribe and 
were stationed behind the line of battle. 3 

"When I saw the hard earth hollowed 
By our women's flying footprints, 
And Larms her face uncovered 
Like the full moon of the skies, 
Showing forth her hidden beauties — 
Then the matter was grim earnest : 
I engaged their chief in combat, 
Seeing help no other wise." 4 

1 Hamdsa, 41-43. This poem has been rendered in verse by Sir 
Charles Lyall, Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 16, and by the late Dr. A. B. 
Davidson, Biblical and Literary Essays, p. 263. 

2 Mahaffy, Social Life in Greece, p. 21. 3 See pp. 59-60 supra. 

4 Jiamdsa, 82-83. The poet is 'Amr b. Ma'dikarib, a famous heathen 
knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself in the 
Persian wars. 



COURAGE AND LOYALTY 83 



The tribal constitution was a democracy guided by its chief 
men, who derived their authority from noble blood, noble 
character, wealth, wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin 
poet has said in homely language — 

"A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay, 
And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway. 
Only with poles the tent is reared at last, 
And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast. 
But when the pegs and poles are once combined, 
Then stands accomplished that which was designed." 1 

The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on 
their fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was 
free to rebuke presumption in others. " If you are our lord " 
(i.e., if you act discreetly as a sayyid should), " you will lord 
over us, but if you are a prey to pride, go and be proud I" (i.e., we 
will have nothing to do with you). 2 Loyalty in the mouth of 
a pagan Arab did not mean allegiance to his superiors, but 
faithful devotion to his equals : and it was closely 

Loyalty. . . 

connected with the idea of kinship. The family 
and the tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe 
under a covenant of protection — to defend these, individually 
and collectively, was a sacred duty. Honour required that 
a man should stand by his own people through thick and 
thin. 

" I am of Ghaziyya : if she be in error, then I will err ; 
And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her ! " 

sang Durayd b. Simma, who had followed his kin, against his 
better judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother 
'Abdullah.s If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, 
without respect to the merits of the case ; if they do wrong 

1 Al-Afwah al-Awdi in Noldeke's Delectus, p. 4, 11. 8-10. The poles and 
pegs represent lords and commons. 

2 Hamdsa, 122. 3 ibid., 378. 



8 4 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



it should be suffered as long as possible before resorting to 
violence. 1 The utilitarian view of friendship is often em- 
phasised, as in these verses : — 

" Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace, 
But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near. 
Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid 
With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword 
and spear. 

Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong, 
For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes 
sincere." 2 

At the same time, notwithstanding their shrewd common 
sense, nothing is more characteristic of the Arabs — heathen 
and Muhammadan alike — than the chivalrous devotion and 
disinterested self-sacrifice of which they are capable on behalf 
of their friends. In particular, the ancient poetry affords 
proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the solemn 
covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest. 
This topic might be illustrated by many striking examples, but 
one will suffice : — 



The Arabs say: " Awfd mina 'l-Satnaw'ali" — "More loyal than 
al-Samaw'al " ; or Wafd un ka-wafa'i ' l-Samaw' ali " — "A loyalty like 

that of al-Samaw'al." These proverbs refer to 
SamawSt? Samaw ' al b - 'Adiya, an Arab of Jewish descent and 
'Adiya. J ew D y religion, who lived in his castle, called al-Ablaq 

(The Piebald), at Tayma, some distance north of 
Medina. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain 
the Arabs who used to alight beside it ; and they supplied them- 
selves with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is 
related that the poet Imru'u '1-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by 
his enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with Samaw'al, and before 
proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail 
which had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his 
family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at Constanti- 
nople, where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him to 



1 Cf. the verses by al-Find, p. 58 supra. 



2 Hamdsa, 327. 



SAM A W'AL B. 'ADIYA 



S5 



recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he 
died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of Hira, 
sent an army under Harith b. Zalim against Samaw'al, demanding 
that he should surrender the coats of mail. Samaw'al refused to 
betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his 
castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone 
out to hunt. Harith asked Samaw'al : " Dost thou know this 
lad?" "Yes, he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is 
in thy possession, or shall I slay him ? " Samaw'al answered : " Do 
with him as thou wilt. I will never break my pledge nor give up 
the property of my guest-friend." So Harith smote the lad with his 
sword and clove him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. 
And Samaw'al said thereupon : — 

"J was true with the mail-coats of the Khidite, 1 
I am true though many a one is blamed for treason. 
Once did 'Adiya, my father, exhort me : 
* O Samaw'al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.' 
For me built 'Adiya a strong-walled castle 
With a well where I draw water at pleasure; 
So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled. 
When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely."* 

The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified 
in Hatim of Tayyi', of whom many anecdotes are told. We 
may learn from the following one how extravagant are an 
Arab's notions on this subject : — 

When Hatim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was 
asked, "Which dost thou prefer ? — a generous son called Hatim, or 

ten like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, 
Hatim of Tayyi'. brave lads and strong of limb ?" and that she answered, 

" Hatim." Now, when Hatim grew up he was wont 
to take out his food, and if he found any one to share it he 
would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His father, seeing that 



1 Imru'u '1-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe in 
Central Arabia. 

8 Aghdni, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as there 
cited, but appear in the Selection from the Aghdni published at Beyrout in 
1888, vol. ii, p. 18. 



86 



P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a mare with her 
foal and sent him to herd the camels. On reaching the pasture,; 
Hatim began to search for his fellows, but none was in sight ; 
then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he 
was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and 
went to meet them. "O youth," said they, "hast thou aught to 
entertain us withal ? " He answered : " Do ye ask me of enter- 
tainment when ye see the camels ? " Now, these riders were 
'Abid b. al-Abras and Bishr b. Abi Khazim and Nabigha al- 
Dhubyam, and they were on their way to King Nu'man. 1 Hatim 
slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon 'Abid said : " We 
desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must needs charge 
thyself with something more, a single young she-camel would have 
sufficed us." Hatim replied : " That I know, but seeing different 
faces and diverse fashions I thought ye were not of the same 
country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye 
saw, on returning home." So they spoke verses in praise of him 
and celebrated his generosity, and Hatim said : " I wished to bestow 
a kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I 
swear to God that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless 
ye come forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets 
did as he desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels ; then 
they proceeded on their journey to Nu'man. When Hatim's father 
heard of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels ? " 
" O my father," replied Hatim, " by means of them I have conferred 
on thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the 
ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse 
of poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the 
camels." On hearing these words his father said, " Didst thou with 
my camels thus ? " " Yes." " By God, I will never dwell with thee 
again." So he went forth with his family, and Hatim was left alone 
with his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal. 2 

We are told that Hatim's daughter was led as a captive 
before the Prophet and thus addressed him : " ' O Muhammad, 
my sire is dead, and he who would have come to plead for me 
is gone. Release me, if it seem good to thee, and do not let the 
Arabs rejoice at my misfortune ; for I am the daughter of 
the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the 
captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain 



1 See p. 45 sqq. 



2 Aghdni, xvi, 98, 11. 5-22. 



ijAtim of tayyp 



87 



the guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and 
give food and greeting to all ; and never did he turn away 

any who sought a boon. 1 am Hatim's daugh- 
daughter before ten* The Prophet (on whom be the blessing 

and peace of God) answered her : ' O maiden, 
the true believer is such as thou hast described. Had thy 
father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, " God have 
mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire 
loved noble manners, and God loves them likewise.' " 1 

Hatim was a poet of some repute. 2 The following lines are 
addressed to his wife, Mawiyya : — 

" O daughter of 'Abdullah and Malik and him who wore 
The two robes of Yemen stuff — the hero that rode the roan, 
When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof 
A guest — I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone — : 
Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour ; for in 
sooth 

I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone. 

The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me, 

Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown." 3 

Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in 
order that the reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at 
least some glimpses of the position and influence 
P women.° f °f women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, 
their position was high and their influence great. 
They were free to choose their husbands, and could return, if 
ill-treated or displeased, to their own people ; in some cases 

1 Aghdni, xvi, 97, 1. 5 sqq. 

2 His Diwdn has been edited with translation and notes by F. Schulthess 
(Leipzig, 1897). 

3 Hamdsa, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is 'Amir b, 
Uhaymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the 
Arabian tribes were assembled at Hira, King Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama 
produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, '« Let him whose tribe 
is noblest rise up and take them.". Thereupon 'Amir stood forth, and 
wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, 
carried off the prize unchallenged. 



88 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



they even offered themselves in marriage and had the right of 
divorce. They were regarded not as slaves and chattels, but as 
equals and companions. They inspired the poet to sing and 
the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, 
perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. " Knight- 
errantry, the riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, 
the rescue of captive maidens, the succour rendered everywhere 
to women in adversity — all these were essentially Arabian 
ideas, as was the very name of chivalry, the connection of 
honourable conduct with the horse-rider, the man of noble 
blood, the cavalier." 1 But the nobility of the women is not 
only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men ; it 
stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. Fdtima, 
the daughter of Khurshub, was one of three noble matrons 

who bore the title al-Mun]ibat, c the Mothers 
heroines. °f Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of whom, 

viz., Rabi c and 6 Umara and Anas, were called 
'the Perfect' (al-Kamala). One day Hamal b. Badr the 
Faz&rite raided the Banu 'Abs, the tribe to which Fdtima 
belonged, and made her his prisoner. As he led away the 
camel on which she was mounted at the time, she cried : 
" Man, thy wits are wandering. By God, if thou take me 
captive, and if we leave behind us this hill which is now 

in front of us, surely there will never be peace 
daug'hter'of between thee and the sons of Ziyad " (Ziyad was 

the name of her husband), " because people will 
say what they please, and the mere suspicion of evil is 
enough." " I will carry thee off," said he, " that thou mayest 
herd my camels." When Fatima knew that she was certainly 
his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and 
died ; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons. 2 Among 
the names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find 

1 Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan 
Arabia, Introduction, p. 14. 

2 Aghdni xvi, 22, 11. 10-16. 



WOMEN OF THE HEROIC AGE 89 



those of two women, Fukayha and Umm Jamil. As to 
Fukayha, it is related that her clansmen, having been raided by 
the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved to attack 

Fukayha. ° . 3 

him ; but since he was a famous runner, on the 
advice of one of their shaykhs they waited until he had gone 
down to the water and quenched his thirst, for they knew that 
he would then be unable to run. Sulayk, however, seeing 
himself caught, made for the nearest tents and sought refuge 
with Fukayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood 
with drawn sword between him and his pursuers ; and as they 
still pressed on, she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for 
help. Then her brothers came and defended Sulayk, so that 
his life was saved. 1 Had space allowed, it would have been a 
pleasant task to make some further extracts from the long 
Legend of Noble Women. I have illustrated their keen 
sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have 
chosen examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and 
passionate affection. Many among them had the gift of 
poetry, which they bestowed especially on the dead ; it is 
a final proof of the high character and position of women in 
Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and sisters were 
deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of 
living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone ; 
the physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we 
seldom find any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable 
exception to this rule occurs at the beginning of an ode by 
Shanfara. The passage defies translation. It is, to quote Sir 
Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and sympathetic rendering 
of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic literature should 
be acquainted, " the most lovely picture of womanhood which 
heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has 
given us, in the unrivalled Lamiyah^ its highest ideal of heroic 
hardness and virile strength." 2 

1 Aghdm, xviii, 137, 11. 5-10. Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 834. 

2 Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 81. 



90 



P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



UMAYMA. 

"She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face, 
Keeping with quiet looks an even pace ; 
Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes : 
Aside she bends not— softly she replies. 
Ere dawn she carries forth her meal — a gift 
To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift. 
No breath of blame up to her tent is borne, 
While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn. 
Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame, 
For pure and holy is Umayma's name. 
Joy of his heart, to her he need not say 
When evening brings him home — 'Where passed the day? 
Slender and full in turn, of perfect height, 
A very fay were she, if beauty might 
Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite I" 1 

Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus 
exquisitely delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken 
by themselves, are a sufficient answer to any one who would 
maintain that Islam has increased the social influence of 
Arabian women, although in some respects it may have raised 
them to a higher level of civilisation. 2 

There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land 
where might was generally right, and where 

"the simple plan 
That he should take who has the power 
And he should keep who can," 

was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange it 
the weaker sex had not often gone to the wall. The custom 
which prevailed in the ydhiliyya of burying female infants 
alive, revolting as it appears to us, was due partly to the 
frequent famines with which Arabia is afflicted through lack 
of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of honour. Fathers 

1 Mufaddaliyydt, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23. 
See Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part II, p. 295 sqq. 



THE CUSTOM OF INFANTICIDE 91 



feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or lest 
they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters 
being made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of 

Infanticide. , • i 

a daughter was reckoned calamitous, as we read 
in the Koran : " They attribute daughters unto God— far be 
it from Him ! — and for themselves they desire them not. When 
a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens 
wrathfully : he hides himself from his people because of the bad 
news, thinking — c Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover 
it away in the dust f 9 " 1 It was said proverbially, " The 
despatch of daughters is a kindness" and "The burial of 
daughters is a noble deed." 2 Islam put an end to this 
barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran : " Kill 
not your children in fear of impoverishment : we will provide for 
them and for you: verily their killing was a great sin" 3 Perhaps 
the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a 
father struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may 
die before him and thus be saved from the hard mercies of 
her relatives : — 



THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER. 

" But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor 
braved 

Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she 
craved. 

Now my desire is length of days because I know too well 
The orphan girl's hard lot, with kin unkind enforced to dwell. 
I dread that some day poverty will overtake my child, 
And shame befall her when exposed to every passion wild. 4 



T Koran, xvi, 59-61. 

2 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 229. 

3 Koran, xvii, 33. Cf. lxxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last Judgment) : 
" When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was killed." 

4 Literally: "And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh on 
a butcher's board," i.e., defenceless, abandoned to the first-comer. 



92 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



She wishes me to live, but I must wish her dead, woe's me : 

Death is the noblest wooer a helpless maid can see. 

I fear an uncle may be harsh, a brother be unkind, 

When I would never speak a word that rankled in her mind." 1 

And another says : — 

"Were not my little daughters 
Like soft chicks huddling by me, 
Through earth and all its waters 
To win bread would I roam free. 

Our children among us going, 
Our very hearts they be ; 
The wind upon them blowing 
Would banish sleep from me." 2 

" Odi et amo " : these words of the poet might serve as an 
epitome of Bedouin ethics. For, if the heathen Arab was, as 
we have seen, a good friend to his friends, he had 
Tr enen5es.° f m tne sam e degree an intense and deadly feeling 
of hatred towards his enemies. He who did not 
strike back when struck was regarded as a coward. No 
honourable man could forgive an injury or fail to avenge 
it. An Arab, smarting under the loss of some camels driven 
off by raiders, said of his kin who refused to help him : — 

" For all their numbers, they are good for naught, 
My people, against harm however light : 
They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought, 
Malice with lovingkindness they requite." 3 

The last verse, which would have been high praise in the 

1 Hamdsa, 140. Although these verses are not Pre-islamic, and belong 
in fact to a comparatively late period of Islam, they are sufficiently pagan 
in feeling to be cited in this connection. The author, Ishaq b. Khalaf, 
lived under the Caliph Ma'mun (813-833 a.d.). He survived his adopted 
daughter — for Umayma was his sister's child — and wrote an elegy on her, 
which is preserved in the Kdmil of al-Mubarrad, p. 715, 1. 7 sqq., and has 
been translated, together with the verses now in question, by Sir Charles 
Lyall, Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 26. 

2 Hamdsa, 142. Lyall, of. cit., p. 28. 3 Hamdsa, 7. 



BLOOD-REVENGE 



93 



mouth of a Christian or Muhammadan moralist, conveyed 
to those who heard it a shameful reproach. The approved 
method of dealing with an enemy is set forth plainly enough 
in the following lines : — 

" Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindred- 
ship : 

If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip. 
Friend him while thou must ; strike hard when thou hast him 
on the hip." 1 

Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay 
heavy on the conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, 
with them, was "almost a physical necessity, 

Blood-revenge. \ j -,i j • • 

which ir it be not obeyed will deprive its 
subject of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting 
thirst which nothing would quench except blood, a disease 
of honour which might be described as madness, although 
it rarely prevented the sufferer from going to work with 
coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon 
the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow- 
tribesmen. Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases 
it was the beginning of a regular blood-feud in which the 
entire kin of both parties were involved ; as, e.g., the murder of 
Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War between Bakr and 
Taghlib. 2 The slain man's next of kin might accept a 
blood-wit {diya), commonly paid in camels — the coin of 
the country — as atonement for him. If they did so, however, 
it was apt to be cast in their teeth that they preferred milk 
(i.e., she-camels) to blood.3 The true Arab feeling is 
expressed in verses like these : — 

"With the sword will I wash my shame away, 
Let God's doom bring on me what it may ! " 4 



1 Hamdsa, 321. 2 See p. 55 sqq. 

3 Cf. Ruckert's Hamdsa, vol. i, p. 61 seq. 4 Hamdsa, 30. 



94 



P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for 
the dead man, his spirit appeared above his tomb in the 
shape of an owl (hama or sada\ crying " Isqiini " (" Give 
me to drink "). But pagan ideas of vengeance were bound up 
with the Past far more than with the Future. The shadowy 
after-life counted for little or nothing beside the deeply-rooted 
memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and brotherhood 
in arms. 

Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of 
the vendetta had a salutary effect in restraining those who 
would otherwise have indulged their lawless instincts without 
fear of punishment. From our point of view, however, its 
interest is not so much that of a primitive institution as of a 
pervading element in old Arabian life and literature. Full, or 
even adequate, illustration of this topic would carry me far 
beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected from 
the copious material preserved in the Book of Songs a character- 
istic story which tells how Qays b. al-Khatim took vengeance 
on the murderers of his father and his grandfather. 1 

It is related on the authority of Abu 'Ubayda that ' Adi b. 'Amr, 
the grandfather of Qays, was slain by a man named Malik belong- 
ing to the Banu 'Amr b. 'Amir b. Rabi'a b. 'Amir b. 
T vengean?io? e Sa'sa'a ; and his father, Khatmi b. 'Adi, by one of 

^Khatim 1 ^ e Banu 'Abd al-Qays who were settled in Hajar. 

Khatim died before avenging his father, 'Adi, when 
Qays was but a young lad. The mother of Qays, fearing that he 
would sally forth to seek vengeance for the blood of his father and 
his grandfather and perish, went to a mound of dust beside the 
door of their dwelling and laid stones on it, and began to say to 
Qays, " This is the grave of thy father and thy grandfather ; " and 
Qays never doubted but that it was so. He grew up strong in 
the arms, and one day he had a tussle with a youth of the Banu 
Zafar, who said to him : " By God, thou would'st do better to 
turn the strength of thine arms against the slayers of thy father and 
grandfather instead of putting it forth upon me." " And who are 
their slayers ? " " Ask thy mother, she will tell thee." So Qays 



1 Aghdm, ii, 160, 1. n-162, 1. i = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout Selection. 



QAYS IBN AL-KHATtM 



95 



took his sword and set its hilt on the ground and its edge between 
his two breasts, and said to his mother : " Who killed my father and 
my grandfather ? " " They died as people die, and these are their 
graves in the camping-ground." " By God, verily thou wilt tell me 
who slew them or I will bear with my whole weight upon this sword 
until it cleaves through my back." Then she told him, and Qays 
swore that he would never rest until he had slain their slayers. " O 
my son," said she, "Malik, who killed thy grandfather, is of the 
same folk as Khidash b. Zuhayr, and thy father once bestowed 
a kindness on Khidash, for which he is grateful. Go, then, to him 
and take counsel with him touching thine affair and ask him to help 
thee." So Qays set out immediately, and when he came to the 
garden where his water-camel was watering his date-palms, he 
smote the cord (of the bucket) with his sword and cut it, so that the 
bucket dropped into the well. Then he took hold of the camel's 
head, and loaded the beast with two sacks of dates, and said : 
" Who will care for this old woman " (meaning his mother) " in my 
absence ? If I die, let him pay her expenses out of this garden, and 
on her death it shall be his own ; but if I live, my property will 
return to me, and he shall have as many of its dates as he wishes to 
eat." One of his folk cried, " I am for it," so Qays gave him the 
garden and set forth to inquire concerning Khidash. He was told 
to look for him at Marr al-Zahran, but not finding him in his tent, he 
alighted beneath a tree, in the shade of which the guests of Khidash 
used to shelter, and called to the wife of Khidash, " Is there any 
food ? " Now, when she came up to him, she admired his comeli- 
ness — for he was exceeding fair of countenance — and said : " By 
God, we have no fit entertainment for thee, but only dates." He 
replied, " I care not, bring out what thou hast." So she sent to him 
dates in a large measure (qubd'), and Qays took a single date and 
ate half of it and put back the other half in the qubd', and gave 
orders that the qubd' should be brought in to the wife of Khidash ; 
then he departed on some business. When Khidash returned and 
his wife told him the news of Qays, he said, " This is a man who 
would render his person sacred." 1 While he sat there with his wife 
eating fresh ripe dates, Qays returned on camel-back ; and Khidash, 
when he saw the foot of the approaching rider, said to his wife, " Is 
this thy guest ? " "Yes." " 'Tis as though his foot were the foot of 



1 The' Bedouins consider that any one who has eaten of their food or 
has touched the rope of their tent is entitled to claim their protection. 
Such a person is called dakhtt. See Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and 
Wahdbys (London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 sqq. 



9 6 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



my good friend, Khati'm the Yathribite." Qays drew nigh, and struck 
the tent-rope with the point of his spear, and begged leave to come 
in. Having obtained permission, he entered to Khidash and told 
his lineage and informed him of what had passed, and asked him to 
help and advise him in his affair. Khidash bade him welcome, and 
recalled the kindness which he had of his father, and said, " As to 
this affair, truly I have been expecting it of thee for some time. 
The slayer of thy grandfather is a cousin of mine, and I will 
aid thee against him. When we are assembled in our meeting- 
place, I will sit beside him and talk with him, and when I strike his 
thigh, do thou spring on him and slayihim." Qays himself relates : 
" Accompanied by Khidash, I approached him until I stood over his 
head when Khidash sat with him, and as soon as he struck the man's 
thigh I smote his head with a sword named Dhu 'l-Khursayn" (the 
Two-ringed). " His folk rushed on me to slay me, but Khidash came 
between us, crying, ' Let him alone, for, by God, he has slain none 
but the slayer of his grandfather.' " Then Khidash called for one of 
his camels and mounted it, and started with Qays to find the 
'Abdite who killed his father. And when they were near Hajar 
Khidash advised him to go and inquire after this man, and to say to 
him when he discovered him : " I encountered a brigand of thy 
people who robbed me of some articles, and on asking who was the 
chieftain of his people I was directed to thee. Go with me, then, 
that thou mayest take from him my property. If," Khidash 
continued, " he follow thee unattended, thou wilt gain thy desire of 
him ; but should he bid the others go with thee, laugh, and if he 
ask why thou laughest, say, 'With us, the noble does not as thou 
dost, but when he is called to a brigand of his people, he goes forth 
alone with his whip, not with his sword ; and the brigand when he 
sees him gives him everything that he took, in awe of him.' If he 
shall dismiss his friends, thy course is clear ; but if he shall refuse 
to go without them, bring him to me nevertheless, for I hope that 
thou wilt slay both him and them." So Khidash stationed himself 
under the shade of a tree, while Qays went to the 'Abdite and 
addressed him as Khidash had prompted ; and the man's sense of 
honour was touched to the quick, so that he sent away his friends 
and went with Qays. And when Qays came back to Khidash, the 
latter said to him, " Choose, O Qays ! Shall I help thee or shall I 
take thy place?" Qays answered, "I desire neither of these 
alternatives, but if he slay me, let him not slay thee ! " Then he 
rushed upon him and wounded him in the flank and drove his lance 
through the other side, and he fell dead on the spot. When Qays 
had finished with him, Khidash said, " If we flee just now, his folk 



SONGS OF REVENGE 



97 



will pursue us ; but let us go somewhere not far off, for they will 
never think that thou hast slain him and stayed in the neighbour- 
hood. No ; they will miss him and follow his track, and when they 
find him slain they will start to pursue us in every direction, and will 
only return when they have lost hope." So those two entered some 
hollows of the sand, and after staying there several days (for it 
happened exactly as Khidash had foretold), they came forth when 
the pursuit was over, and did not exchange a word until they 
reached the abode of Khidash. There Qays parted from him and 
returned to his own people. 

The poems relating to blood-revenge show all that is best and 
much that is less admirable in the heathen Arab — on the one 
hand, his courage and resolution, his contempt of death and 
fear of dishonour, his single-minded devotion to the dead as to 
the living, his deep regard and tender affection for the men of 
his own flesh and blood ; on the other hand, his implacable 
temper, his perfidious cruelty and reckless ferocity in hunting 
down the slayers, and his savage, well-nigh inhuman exultation 
over the slain. The famous Song or Ballad of Vengeance that 
I shall now attempt to render in English verse is usually attri- 
buted to Ta'abbata Sharr an , 1 although some pro- 
vengefncl nounce it to be a forgery by Khalaf al-Ahmar, 
Sharran. the reputed author of Shanfara's masterpiece, and 
beyond doubt a marvellously skilful imitator of 
the ancient bards. Be that as it may, the ballad is utterly 
pagan in tone and feeling. Its extraordinary merit was de- 
tected by Goethe, who, after reading it in a Latin translation, 
published a German rendering, with some fine criticism of the 
poetry, in his West-oestlicher Divan. 2 I have endeavoured to 
suggest as far as possible the metre and rhythm of the original, 

1 See p. 81 supra. 

2 Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with 
which I am acquainted are those of Riickert (Hamdsa, vol. i, p. 299) 
and Sir Charles Lyall {Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 48). I have adopted 
Sir Charles Lyall's arrangement of the poem, and have closely followed 
his masterly interpretation, from which I have also borrowed some turns 
of phrase that could not be altered except for the worse. 

8 



98 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



since to these, in my opinion, its peculiar effect is largely due. 
The metre is that known as the c Tall ' (Madid), viz. : — 

I — — — | — — 

Thus the first verse runs in Arabic : — 

Inna bi'l-shV \ bi 'lladhi \ Hnda Sal' in 
la-qatil an \ damuhu \ md yutallu. 

Of course, Arabic prosody differs radically from English, 
but mutatis mutandis several couplets in the following version 
(e.g. the third, eighth, and ninth) will be found to correspond 
exactly with their model. As has been said, however, my 
object was merely to suggest the abrupt metre and the heavy, 
emphatic cadences, so that I have been able to give variety to 
the verse, and at the same time to retain that artistic freedom 
without which the translator of poetry cannot hope to satisfy 
either himself or any one else. 

The poet tells how he was summoned to avenge his uncle, 
slain by the tribesmen of Hudhayl : he describes the dead 
man's heroic character, the foray in which he fell, his former 
triumphs over the same enemy, and finally the terrible ven- 
geance taken for him. 1 

"In the glen there a murdered man is lying — 
Not in vain for vengeance his blood is crying. 
He hath left me the load to bear and departed ; 
I take up the load and bear it true-hearted. 
I, his sister's son, the bloodshed inherit, 
I whose knot none looses, stubborn of spirit ; 2 
Glowering darkly, shame's deadly out-wiper, 
Like the serpent spitting venom, the viper. 



1 The Arabic text will be found in the Hamdsa, p. 382 sqq. 

2 This and the following verse are generally taken to be a description 
not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The interpretation given 
above does no violence to the language, and greatly enhances the 
dramatic effect, 



POEM BY T A ABB AT A SHARR AN 99 



Hard the tidings that befell us, heart-breaking ; 

Little seemed thereby the anguish most aching. 

Fate hath robbed me — still is Fate fierce and frovvard — 

Of a hero whose friend ne'er called him coward : 

As the warm sun was he in wintry weather, 

'Neath the Dog-star shade and coolness together : 

Spare of flank — yet this in him showed not meanness ; 

Open-handed, full of boldness and keenness : 

Firm of purpose, cavalier unaffrighted — 

Courage rode with him and with him alighted : 

In his bounty, a bursting cloud of rain-water ; 

Lion grim when he leaped to the slaughter. 

Flowing hair, long robe his folk saw aforetime, 

But a lean-haunched wolf was he in war-time. 

Savours two he had, untasted by no men : 

Honey to his friends and gall to his foemen. 

Fear he rode nor recked what should betide him : 

Save his deep-notched Yemen blade, none beside him. 

Oh, the warriors girt with swords good for slashing, 
Like the levin, when they drew them, outflashing ! 
Through the noonday heat they fared: then, benighted, 
Farther fared, till at dawning they alighted. 1 
Breaths of sleep they sipped ; and then, while they nodded, 
Thou didst scare them : lo, they scattered and scudded. 
Vengeance wreaked we upon them, unforgiving : 
Of the two clans scarce was left a soul living. 2 

Ay, if they bruised his glaive's edge 'twas in token 
That by him many a time their own was broken. 
Oft he made them kneel down by force and cunning — 
Kneel on jags where the foot is torn with running. 
Many a morn in shelter he took them napping ; 
After killing was the rieving and rapine. 

They have gotten of me a roasting — I tire not 
Of desiring them till me they desire not. 
First, of foemen' s blood my spear deeply drinketh, 
Then a second time, deep in, it sinketh. 



1 In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed. 

* Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the surprised 
party suffered severely. " The two clans " belonged to the great tribe of 
Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse. 



ioo PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



Lawful now to me is wine, long forbidden : 
Sore my struggle ere the ban was o'erridden. 1 
Pour me wine, O son of 'Amr ! I would taste it, 
Since with grief for mine uncle I am wasted. 
O'er the fallen of Hudhayl stands screaming 
The hyena ; see the wolf's teeth gleaming ! 
Dawn will hear the flap of wings, will discover 
Vultures treading corpses, too gorged to hover." 

All the virtues which enter into the Arabian conception 
of Honour were regarded not as personal qualities inherent 
or acquired, but as hereditary possessions which a 
H f e n r red b°y " man derived from his ancestors, and held in trust 
no ie ancestry. t ^ at might transmit them untarnished to his 
descendants. It is the desire to uphold and emulate the 
fame of his forbears, rather than the hope of winning 
immortality for himself, that causes the Arab " to say the 
say and do the deeds of the noble." Far from sharing the 
sentiment of the Scots peasant — " a man's a man for a* that " 
— he looks askance at merit and renown unconsecrated by 
tradition. 

"The glories that have grown up with the grass 
Can match not those inherited of old." 2 

Ancestral renown (hasab) is sometimes likened to a strong 
castle built by sires for their sons, or to a lofty mountain 
which defies attack. 3 The poets are full of boastings 
[mafakhir) and revilings {mathalib) in which they loudly pro- 
claim the nobility of their own ancestors, and try to blacken 
those of their enemy without any regard to decorum. 

It was my intention to add here some general remarks on 
Arabian poetry as compared with that of the Hebrews, the 

1 It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he 
would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance. 
8 Hamdsa, 679. 

3 Of. the lines translated below from the Mu'allaqa of ^arith. 



THE MU'ALLAQAT 



ioi 



Persians, and our own, but since example is better than precept 
I will now tunn directly to those celebrated odes which are 
well known by the title of Mifallaqat, or ' Suspended Poems,' 
to all who take the slightest interest in Arabic literature. 1 

Mu l allaqa (plural, Mu^allaqdt) "is most likely derived from 
the word Hlq y meaning 4 a precious thing or a thing held in 
high estimation,' either because one c hangs on ' tenaciously to 
it, or because it is ' hung up ' in a place of honour, or in a 
conspicuous place, in a treasury or store-house." 2 In course 
of time the exact signification of Mitallaqa was forgotten, and 
it became necessary to find a plausible explanation. 
^'Suspended Hence arose the legend, which frequent repetition 
has made familiar, that the * Suspended Poems' 
were so called from having been hung up in the Ka'ba on 
account of their merit ; that this distinction was awarded 
by the judges at the fair of 'Uka?;, near Mecca, where 
poets met in rivalry and recited their choicest productions ; 
and that the successful compositions, before being affixed 
to the door of the Ka'ba, were transcribed in letters of 
gold upon pieces of fine Egyptian linen. 3 Were these state- 

1 The best edition of the Mu'allaqdt is Sir Charles Lyall's {A Commentary 
on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems, Calcutta, 1894), which contains in addition 
to the seven Mu'allaqdt three odes by A'sha, Nabigha, and 'Abid b. al-Abras. 
Noldeke has translated five Mu'allaqas (omitting those of Imru' u' 
1-Qays and Tarafa) with a German commentary, Sitzungsberichte der 
Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien, Phil.-Histor. Klasse, vols. 140-144 
(1899-1901) ; this is by far the best translation for students. No satis- 
factory version in English prose has hitherto appeared, but I may call 
attention to the fine and original, though somewhat free, rendering into 
English verse by Lady Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (The Seven 
Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, London, 1903). 

2 Ancient Arabian Poetry, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other interpre- 
tations have been suggested — e.g., 1 The Poems written down from oral 
dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), 'The 
Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. Miiller). 

3 The belief that the Mu^allaqdt were written in letters of gold seems 
to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name Mudhhabdt or 
Mudhahhabdt [i.e., the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to them 
in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title xpvata Zirtj 



102 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



ments true, we should expect them to be confirmed by some 
allusion in the early literature. But as a matter of fact nothing 
of the kind is mentioned in the Koran or in religious tradition, 
in the ancient histories of Mecca, or in such works as the 
Kitdbu U-Jghdnl, which draw their information from old and 
trustworthy sources. 1 Almost the first authority who refers to 
the legend is the grammarian Ahmad al-Nahhds (f 949 a.d.), 
and by him it is stigmatised as entirely groundless. Moreover, 
although it was accepted by scholars like Reiske, Sir W. Jones, 
and even De Sacy, it is incredible in itself. Hengstenberg, in 
the Prolegomena to his edition of the Muf-allaqa of Imru'u 
'1-Qays (Bonn, 1823) asked some pertinent questions : Who 
were the judges, and how were they appointed ? Why were 
only these seven poems thus distinguished ? His further 
objection, that the art of writing was at that time a rare accom- 
plishment, does not carry so much weight as he attached to 
it, but the story is sufficiently refuted by what we know of 
the character and customs of the Arabs in the sixth century 
and afterwards. Is it conceivable that the proud sons of the 
desert could have submitted a matter so nearly touching their 
tribal honour, of which they were jealous above all things, to 
external arbitration, or meekly acquiesced in the partial verdict 
of a court sitting in the neighbourhood of Mecca, which would 
certainly have shown scant consideration for competitors 
belonging to distant clans ? 2 

However Mu'allaqa is to be explained, the name is not 
contemporary with the poems themselves. In all probability 
they were so entitled by the person who first chose them 

to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of the Mu'allaqdt 
were recited at 'Ukaz is probable enough and is definitely affirmed in the 
case of 'Amr b. Kulthum (Aghdni, ix, 182). 

1 The legend first appears in the 'Iqd al-Farid (ed. of Cairo, 1293 A.H., 
vol. iii, p. 116 seq.) of Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 a.d. 

2 See the Introduction to Noldeke's Beitriige zur Kenntniss der Poesie 
der alien Araber (Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq.,and his article 1 Mo'allakat ' 
in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 



THE MWALLAQAT 



103 



out of innumerable others and embodied them in a separate 
collection. This is generally allowed to have been Hammad 
al-Riwiya 5 a famous rhapsodist who flourished in 

°2Swtio?. e the latter da y s of the Umayyad dynasty, and 
died about 772 A.D., in the reign of the 'Abbasid 
Caliph Mahdf. What principle guided Hammad in his choice 
we do not know. Noldeke conjectures that he was influenced 
by the fact that all the Mu'allaqdt are long poems — they are 
sometimes called 'The Seven Long Poems' (al-Sab* al-Tiwdl) 
— for in Hammad's time little of the ancient Arabian poetry 
survived in a state even of relative completeness. 

It must be confessed that no rendering of the Mu l allaqdt 
can furnish European readers with a just idea of the originals, 
a literal version least of all. They contain much 
SSatmf f that only a full commentary can make intelligible, 
the Mu aiiaqat. muc jj t j lat tQ moc [ ern taste [ s absolutely incon- 

gruous with the poetic style. Their finest pictures of Bedouin 
life and manners often appear uncouth or grotesque, because 
without an intimate knowledge of the land and people it is 
impossible for us to see what the poet intended to convey, or 
to appreciate the truth and beauty of its expression ; while the 
artificial framework, the narrow range of subject as well as 
treatment, and the frank realism of the whole strike us at 
once. In the following pages I shall give some account of 
the Mulallaqdt and their authors, and endeavour to bring out 
the characteristic qualities of each poem by selecting suitable 
passages for translation. 1 

The oldest and most famous of the Mulallaqdt is that of 
Imru'u '1-Qays, who was descended from the ancient kings of 
Yemen. His grandfather was King Harith of Kinda, the 
antagonist of Mundhir III, King of Hira, by whom he was 

1 It is well known that the order of the verses in the Mulallaqdt, as they 
have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the number of 
various readings is very large. I have generally followed the text and 
arrangement adopted by Noldeke in his German translation. 



104 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



defeated and slain. 1 On Harith's death, the confederacy 
which he had built up split asunder, and his sons divided among 

themselves the different tribes of which it was 
'l^ays. composed. Hujr, the poet's father, ruled for some 

time over the Banu Asad in Central Arabia, but 
finally they revolted and put him to death. " The duty of 
avenging his murder fell upon Imru'u '1-Qays, who is repre- 
sented as the only capable prince of his family ; and the 
few historical data which we have regarding him relate to his 
adventures while bent upon this vengeance." 2 They are told 
at considerable length in the Kitdbu H-Aghanl^ but need not 
detain us here. Suffice it to say that his efforts to punish the 
rebels, who were aided by Mundhir, the hereditary foe of his 
house, met with little success. He then set out for Constan- 
tinople, where he was favourably received by the Emperor 
Justinian, who desired to see the power of Kinda re-established 
as a thorn in the side of his Persian rivals. The emperor 
appointed him Phylarch of Palestine, but on his way thither he 
died at Angora (about 540 a.d.). He is said to have perished, 
like Nessus, from putting on a poisoned robe sent to him as a 
gift by Justinian, with whose daughter he had an intrigue. 
Hence he is sometimes called * The Man of the Ulcers ? 
(Dhu U-Quruh). 

Many fabulous traditions surround the romantic figure of 
Imru'u 'l-Qays.3 According to one story, he was banished by 
his father, who despised him for being a poet and was enraged 
by the scandals to which his love adventures gave rise. 
Imru'u '1-Qays left his home and wandered from tribe to tribe 
with a company of outcasts like himself, leading a wild life, 
which caused him to be known as ' The Vagabond Prince ' 
(al-Malik al-Dillil). When the news of his father's death 

x See p. 42 supra. 2 Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. 105. 

3 See the account of his life (according to the Kitdbu' l-Aghdnt) in 
Le Diwan d'Amro'lkais, edited with translation and notes by Baron 
MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), PP- I_ 5i I an d in Amrilkais, der Dichter 
und Konig by Friedrich Ruckert (Stuttgart and Tubingen, 1843). 



IMRU'U 'L-QAYS 



reached him he cried, " My father wasted my youth, and now 
that I am old he has laid upon me the burden of blood-revenge. 
Wine to-day, business to-morrow ! " Seven nights he con- 
tinued the carouse ; then he swore not to eat flesh, nor drink 
wine, nor use ointment, nor touch woman, nor wash his 
head until his vengeance was accomplished. In the valley 
of Tabala, north of Najran, there was an idol called Dhu 
'1-Khalasa much reverenced by the heathen Arabs. Imru'u 
'1-Qays visited this oracle and consulted it in the ordinary way, 
by drawing one of three arrows entitled ' the Commanding,' 
c the Forbidding,' and ' the Waiting.' He drew the second, 
whereupon he broke the arrows and dashed them on the face 
of the idol, exclaiming with a gross imprecation, " If thy 
father had been slain, thou would'st not have hindered me ! " 

Imru'u '1-Qays is almost universally reckoned the greatest 
of the Pre-islamic poets. Muhammad described him as c their 
leader to Hell-fire,' while the Caliphs 'Umar and 'All, 
odium theologicum notwithstanding, extolled his genius and origin- 
ality. 1 Coming to the Mu^allaqa itself, European critics have 
vied with each other in praising its exquisite diction and 
splendid images, the sweet flow of the verse, the charm and 
variety of the painting, and, above all, the feeling by which it 
is inspired of the joy and glory of youth. The passage trans- 
lated below is taken from the first half of the poem, in which 
love is the prevailing theme : — 2 

" Once, on the hill, she mocked at me and swore, 
'This hour I leave thee to return no more,' 



1 That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian qasida as 
described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions in one 
of his verses a certain Ibn Humam or Ibn Khidham who introduced, or at 
least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost every ode begins : 
a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn Qutayba, K. al-Shi'r wa- 
'l-Shu'ard, p. 52). 

■ The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the 
Mu'allaqdt (Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35. 



io6 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



Soft ! if farewell is planted in thy mind, 
Yet spare me, Fatima, disdain unkind. 
Because my passion slays me, wilt thou part ? 
Because thy wish is law unto mine heart? 
Nay, if thou so mislikest aught in me, 
Shake loose my robe and let it fall down free. 
But ah, the deadly pair, thy streaming eyes ! 
They pierce a heart that all in ruin lies. 



How many a noble tent hath oped its treasure 

To me, and I have ta'en my fill of pleasure, 

Passing the warders who with eager speed 

Had slain me, if they might but hush the deed, 

What time in heaven the Pleiades unfold 

A belt of orient gems distinct with gold. 

I entered. By the curtain there stood she, 

Clad lightly as for sleep, and looked on me. 

• By God,' she cried, ' what recks thee of the cost ? 

I see thine ancient madness is not lost.' 

I led her forth — she trailing as we go 

Her broidered skirt, lest any footprint show — 

Until beyond the tents the valley sank 

With curving dunes and many a piled bank. 

Then with both hands I drew her head to mine, 

And lovingly the damsel did incline 

Her slender waist and legs more plump than fine ; — 

A graceful figure, a complexion bright, 

A bosom like a mirror in the light ; 

Her face a pearl where pale contends with rose ; 

For her, clear water from the untrodden fountain flows. 

Now she bends half away : two cheeks appear, 

And such an eye as marks the frighted deer 

Beside her fawn ; and lo, the antelope-neck 

Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck ; 

While from her shoulders in profusion fair, 

Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her jet-black hair." 



In strange contrast with this tender and delicate idyll are 
the wild, hard verses almost immediately following, in which 
the poet roaming through the barren waste hears the howl of a 
starved wolf and hails him as a comrade : — 



IMRU'U 'L-QAYS 



107 



" Each one of us what thing he finds devours : 
Lean is the wretch whose living is like ours." 1 

The noble qualities of his horse and its prowess in the 
chase are described, and the poem ends with a magnificent 
picture of a thunder-storm among the hills of Najd. 

Tarafa b. al- c Abd was a member of the great tribe of Bakr. 
The particular clan to which he belonged was settled in 
Bahrayn on the Persian Gulf. He early developed 

Tarafa. \ r • i • i i • * r • i 

a talent for satire, which he exercised upon friend 
and foe indifferently ; and after he had squandered his 
patrimony in dissolute pleasures, his family chased him away 
as though he were *a mangy camel.' At length a recon- 
ciliation was effected. He promised to mend his ways, re- 
turned to his people, and took part, it is said, in the War of 
Basus. In a little while his means were dissipated once more 
and he was reduced to tend his brother's herds. His Mu'allaqa 
composed at this time won for him the favour of a rich kins- 
man and restored him to temporary independence. On the 
conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib the youthful 
poet turned his eyes in the direction of Hira, where *Amr b. 
Hind had lately succeeded to the throne (554 A.D.). He was 
well received by the king, who attached him, along with his 
uncle, the poet Mutalammis, to the service of the heir-apparent. 
But Tarafa's bitter tongue was destined to cost him dear. 
Fatigued and disgusted by the rigid ceremony of the court, he 
improvised a satire in which he said — 

"Would that we had instead of 'Amr 
A milch-ewe bleating round our tent ! " 

Shortly afterwards he happened to be seated at table opposite 
the king's sister. Struck with her beauty, he exclaimed — 

1 The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and 
the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the brigand-poet, 
Ta'abbata Sharr an . 



ioS PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



"Behold, she has come back to me, 
My fair gazelle whose ear-rings shine ; 
Had not the king been sitting here, 
I would have pressed her lips to mine ! " 

' Amr b. Hind was a man of violent and implacable temper. 
Tarafa's satire had already been reported to him, and this new 
impertinence added fuel to his wrath. Sending for Tarafa and 
Mutalammis, he granted them leave to visit their homes, and 
gave to each of them a sealed letter addressed to the governor 
of Bahrayn. When they had passed outside the city the 
suspicions of Mutalammis were aroused. As neither he nor 
his companion could read, he handed his own letter to a boy 
of Hira 1 and learned that it contained orders to bury him 
alive. Thereupon he flung the treacherous missive into the 
stream and implored Tarafa to do likewise. Tarafa refused 
to break the royal seal. He continued his journey to Bahrayn, 
where he was thrown into prison and executed. 

Thus perished miserably in the flower of his youth — accord- 
ing to some accounts he was not yet twenty — the passionate 
and eloquent Tarafa. In his Mu^allaqa he has drawn a 
spirited portrait of himself. The most striking feature of 
the poem, apart from a long and, to us who are not Bedouins, 
painfully tedious description of the camel, is its insistence on 
sensual enjoyment as the sole business of life :— 

'* Canst thou make me immortal, O thou that blamest me so 
For haunting the battle and loving the pleasures that fly ? 
If thou hast not the power to ward me from Death, let me go 
To meet him and scatter the wealth in my hand, ere I die. 

Save only for three things in which noble youth take delight, 
I care not how soon rises o'er me the coronach loud : 
Wine that bubbles when water is poured on it, ruddy and 
bright, 

Red wine that I quaff stol'n away from the cavilling crowd ; 



1 We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian Arabs 
of Hira. 



TAR A FA 



109 



"And second, my charge at the cry of distress on a steed 
Bow-legged like the wolf you have startled when thirsty he 
cowers ; 

And third, on a wet day — oh, wet days are pleasant indeed ! — 
'Neath a propped leathern tent with a girl to beguile the slow 
hours." 1 

Keeping, as far as possible, the chronological order, we have 
now to mention two Mu'allaqas which, though not directly 
related to each other, 2 are of the same period — the reign of 
'Amr b. Hind, King of Hira (554-568 a.d.). Moreover, 
their strong mutual resemblance and their difference from the 
other Mu'allaqas, especially from typical qasldas like those of 
4 Antara and Labid, is a further reason for linking them 
together. Their distinguishing mark is the abnormal space 
devoted to the main subject, which leaves little room for 
the subsidiary motives. 

'Amr b. Kulthum belonged to the tribe of Taghlib. His 
mother was Layla, a daughter of the famous poet and warrior 
Muhalhil. That she was a woman of heroic 

KuiThum mould appears from the following anecdote, which 
records a deed of prompt vengeance on the part 
of ( Amr that gave rise to the proverb, " Bolder in onset than 
'Amr b. Kulthum " 3 :-— 

One day 'Amr. b. Hind, the King of Hira, said to his boon-com- 
panions, " Do ye know any Arab whose mother would disdain to 
serve mine ? " They answered, " Yes, the mother of ' Amr b. 



1 Vv. 54-59 (Lyall) ; 56-61 (Arnold). 

2 See Noldeke, Fiinf Mu'allaqdt, i, p. 51 seq. According to the 
traditional version (Aghdm } ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went raiding, 
lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having been refused 
water by a sept of the Banu Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib appealed to King 
'Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they claimed, and 
chose 'Amr b. Kulthum to plead their cause at Hira. So 'Amr recited his 
Mu'allaqa before the king, and was answered by Harith on behalf of 
Bakr. 

3 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. ii, p. 233. 



110 



PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



Kulthum." " Why so ? " asked the king. " Because," said they, " her 
father is Muhalhil b. Rabi'a and her uncle is Kulayb b. Wa'il, the 

most puissant of the Arabs, and her husband is 
av™ed7n Kulthum b. Malik, the knightliest, and her son is 'Amr, 
insult to his the chieftain of his tribe." Then the king sent to 'Amr 

b. Kulthum, inviting him to pay a visit to himself, and 
asking him to bring his mother, Layla, to visit his own mother, 
Hind. So 'Amr came to Hira with some men of Taghlib, and 
Layla came attended by a number of their women; and while 
the king entertained 'Amr and his friends in a pavilion which he 
had caused to be erected between Hira and the Euphrates, Layla 
found quarters with Hind in a tent adjoining. Now, the king had 
ordered his mother, as soon as he should call for dessert, to dismiss 
the servants, and cause Layla to wait upon her. At the pre-arranged 
signal she desired to be left alone with her guest, and said, " O Layla, 
hand me that dish." Layla answered, " Let those who want anything 
rise up and serve themselves." Hind repeated her demand, and 
would take no denial. " O shame ! " cried Layla. " Help ! Taghlib, 
help ! " When 'Amr heard his mother's cry the blood flew to his 
cheeks. He seized a sword hanging on the wall of the pavilion — 
the only weapon there — and with a single blow smote the king 
dead. 1 



'Amr's Mitallaqa is the work of a man who united in 
himself the ideal qualities of manhood as these were under- 
stood by a race which has never failed to value, even too 
highly, the display of self-reliant action and decisive energy. 
And if in 'Amr's poem these virtues are displayed with an 
exaggerated boastfulness which offends our sense of decency 
and proper reserve, it would be a grave error to conclude that 
all this sound and fury signifies nothing. The Bedouin poet 
deems it his bounden duty to glorify to the utmost himself, his 
family, and his tribe ; the Bedouin warrior is never tired of 
proclaiming his unshakable valour and recounting his brilliant 
feats of arms : he hurls menaces and vaunts in the same breath, 
but it does not follow that he is a Miles Gloriosus. c Amr 
certainly was not : his Mifallaqa leaves a vivid impression of 
conscious and exultant strength. The first eight verses seem 



1 Aghdm, ix, 182. 



'AMR IBN KULTHtfM 



in 



to have been added to the poem at a very early date, for out of 
them arose the legend that *Amr drank himself to death with 
unmixed wine. It is likely that they were included in the 
original collection of the Mu^allaqdt^ and they are worth 
translating for their own sake : — 

" Up, maiden ! Fetch the morning-drink and spare not 

The wine of Andarin, 
Clear wine that takes a saffron hue when water 

Is mingled warm therein. 
The lover tasting it forgets his passion, 

His heart is eased of pain ; 
The stingy miser, as he lifts the goblet, 

Regardeth not his gain. 

Pass round from left to right ! Why let'st thou, maiden, 

Me and my comrades thirst ? 
Yet am I, whom thou wilt not serve this morning, 

Of us three not the worst ! 
Many a cup in Baalbec and Damascus 

And Qasinn I drained, 
Howbeit we, ordained to death, shall one day 

Meet death, to us ordained." 1 

In the next passage he describes his grief at the departure 
of his beloved, whom he sees in imagination arriving at her 
journey's end in distant Yam&ma : — 

"And oh, my love and yearning when at nightfall 

I saw her camels haste, 
Until sharp peaks uptowered like serried sword-blades, 

And me Yamama faced ! 
Such grief no mother-camel feels, bemoaning 

Her young one lost, nor she, 
The grey-haired woman whose hard fate hath left her 

Of nine sons graves thrice three." 2 

Now the poet turns abruptly to his main theme. He 

1 Vv. 1-8 (Arnold) ; in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is omitted. 

2 Vv. 15-18 (Lyall) ; 19-22 (Arnold). 



ii2 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



addresses the King of Hi'ra, 'Amr b. Hind, in terms of defiance, 
and warns the foes of Taghlib that they will meet more than 
their match : — 

" Father of Hind, 1 take heed and ere thou movest 

Rashly against us, learn 
That still our banners go down white to battle 

And home blood-red return. 
And many a chief bediademed, the champion 

Of the outlaws of the land, 
Have we o'erthrown and stripped him, while around him 

Fast-reined the horses stand. 
Our neighbours lopped like thorn-trees, snarls in terror 

Of us the demon-hound ; 2 
Never we try our hand-mill on the foemen 

But surely they are ground. 
We are the heirs of glory, all Ma'add knows, 3 

Our lances it defend, 
And when the tent-pole tumbles in the foray, 

Trust us to save our friend ! 4 

O 'Arar, what mean'st thou ? Are we, we of Taghlib, 

Thy princeling's retinue ? 
O 'Amr, what mean'st thou, rating us and hearkening 

To tale-bearers untrue ? 
O 'Amr, ere thee full many a time our spear-shaft* 

Has baffled foes to bow ; 5 
Nipped in the vice it kicks like a wild camel 

That will no touch allow — 
Like a wild camel, so it creaks in bending 

And splits the bender's brow ! " 6 

The MiSallaqa ends with a eulogy, superb in its extravagance, 
of the poet's tribe : — 

1 The Arabs use the term kunya to denote this familiar style of address 
in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 1 father of So-and- 
so ' (either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter). 

2 I.e., even the, jinn (genies) stand in awe of us. 

3 Here Ma'add signifies the Arabs in general. 

4 Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28. 

s This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been subdued 
6 Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48. 



'AMR IBN KULTH&M 113 



"Well wot, when our tents rise along their valleys, 

The men of every clan 
That we give death to those who durst attempt us, 

To friends what food we can ; 
That staunchly we maintain a cause we cherish, 

Camp where we choose to ride, 
Nor will we aught of peace, when we are angered, 

Till we are satisfied. 
We keep our vassals safe and sound, but rebels 

We soon bring to their knees ; 
And if we reach a well, we drink pure water, 

Others the muddy lees. 
Ours is the earth and all thereon : when we strike, 

There needs no second blow ; 
Kings lay before the new-weaned boy of Taghlib 

Their heads in homage low. 
We are called oppressors, being none, but shortly 

A true name shall it be ! 1 
We have so filled the earth 'tis narrow for us, 

And with our ships the sea ! 2 



Less interesting is the Mu^allaqa of Harith b. Hilliza of 
Bakr. Its inclusion among the Mtfallaqat is probably due, as 
Noldeke suggested, to the fact that flammad, 
himself a client of Bakr, wished to flatter his 
patrons by selecting a counterpart to the MiSallaqa of 'Amr 
b. Kulthum, which immortalised their great rivals, the Banu 
Taghlib. Harith's poem, however, has some historical im- 
portance, as it throws light on feuds in Northern Arabia 
connected with the antagonism of the Roman and Persian 
Empires. Its purpose is to complain of unjust accusations 
made against the Banu Bakr by a certain group of the Band 
Taghlib known as the Araqim : — 

1 I.e., we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with impunity. 
This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold. 

* Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words are 
anything more than a poetic fiction, ' the sea ' must refer to the River 
Euphrates. 

9 



ii4 PRE-1SLAMIC POETRY 



"Our brothers the Araqim let their tongues 

Against us rail unmeasuredly. 
The innocent with the guilty they confound : 

Of guilt what boots it to be free ? 
They brand us patrons of the vilest deed, 

Our clients in each miscreant see.'' 1 

A person whom Harith does not name was ' blackening ' 
the Banu Baler before the King of IJira. The poet tells him 
not to imagine that his calumnies will have any lasting effect : 
often had Bakr been slandered by their foes, but (he finely 
adds) :— 

" Maugre their hate we stand, by firm-based might 

Exalted and by ancestry — 
Might which ere now hath dazzled men's eyes : thence scorn 

To yield and haughty spirit have we. 
On us the Days beat as on mountain dark 

That soars in cloudless majesty, 
Compact against the hard calamitous shocks 

And bufferings of Destiny." 2 

He appeals to the offenders not wantonly to break the peace 
which ended the War of Basus : — 

" Leave folly and error ! If ye blind yourselves, 

Just therein lies the malady. 
Recall the oaths of Dhu 'l-Majazs for which 

Hostages gave security, 
Lest force or guile should break them : can caprice 

Annul the parchments utterly? 4 

'Antara b. Shadd&d, whose father belonged to the tribe of 
'Abs, distinguished himself in the War of Dahis.5 In modern 
times it is not as a poet that he is chiefly remem- 
bered, but as a hero of romance — the Bedouin 
Achilles. Goddess-born, however, he could not be called by 

1 Vv. 16-18. 2 Vv. 23-26. 

3 A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca. 

4 Vv. 40-42 (Lyall) ; 65-67 (Arnold). 

s See 'Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter, by H. Thorbecke (Leipzig, 
1867). 



hArith AND 'ANTARA 



any stretch of imagination. His mother was a black slave, 
and he must often have been taunted with his African blood, 
which showed itself in a fiery courage that gained the respect 
of the pure-bred but generally less valorous Arabs. 'Antara 
loved his cousin c Abla, and following the Arabian custom by 
which cousins have the first right to a girl's hand, he asked 
her in marriage. His suit was vain — the son of a slave mother 
being regarded as a slave unless acknowledged by his father — 
until on one occasion, while the 'Absites were hotly engaged 
with some raiders who had driven off their camels, 'Antara 
refused to join in the melee, saying, " A slave does not under- 
stand how to fight ; his work' is to milk the camels and bind 
their udders." " Charge ! " cried his father, " thou art free." 
Though 'Antara uttered no idle boast when he sang — 

" On one side nobly born and of the best 
Of 'Abs am I : my sword makes good the rest ! " 

his contemptuous references to 'jabbering barbarians,' and to 
c slaves with their ears cut off, clad in sheepskins,' are charac- 
teristic of the man who had risen to eminence in spite of the 
stain on his scutcheon. He died at a great age in a foray 
against the neighbouring tribe of Tayyi'. His Mu^allaqa is 
famous for its stirring battle-scenes, one of which is translated 
here : — 1 

" Learn, Malik's daughter, how 
I rush into the fray, 
And how I draw back only 
At sharing of the prey. 

I never quit the saddle, 
My strong steed nimbly bounds ; 

Warrior after warrior 

Have covered him with wounds. 



1 I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may see 
by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on which it is 
based. 



n6 



PRE-1SLAMIC POETRY 



Full-armed against me stood 
One feared of fighting men : 

He fled not oversoon 
Nor let himself be ta'en. 

With straight hard-shafted spear 

I dealt him in his side 
A sudden thrust which opened 

Two streaming gashes wide, 

Two gashes whence outgurgled 
His life-blood : at the sound 

Night-roaming ravenous wolves 
Flock eagerly around. 

So with my doughty spear 
I trussed his coat of mail — 

For truly, when the spear strikes, 
The noblest man is frail — 

And left him low to banquet 
The wild beasts gathering there ; 

They have torn off his fingers, 
His wrist and fingers fair ! " 



While 'Antara's poem belongs to the final stages of the 
War of Dahis, the Mitallaqa of his contemporary, Zuhayr b. 

Abi Sulma, of the tribe of Muzayna, celebrates 
an act of private munificence which brought 
about the conclusion of peace. By the self-sacrificing inter- 
vention of two chiefs of Dhubyan, Harim b. Sinan and 
Harith b. c Awf, the whole sum of blood-money to which 
the 'Absites were entitled on account of the greater number 
of those who had fallen on their side, was paid over to them. 
Such an example of generous and disinterested patriotism — for 
Harim and Harith had shed no blood themselves — was a fit 
subject for one of whom it was said that he never praised men 
but as they deserved : — 



ZUHA YR 



117 



Noble pair of Ghayz ibn Murra, 1 well ye laboured to restore 
Ties of kindred hewn asunder by the bloody strokes of war. 
Witness now mine oath the ancient House in Mecca's hallowed 
bound, 2 

Which its builders of Quraysh and Jurhum solemnly went 
round, 3 

That in hard or easy issue never wanting were ye found ! 
Peace ye gave to 'Abs and Dhubyan when each fell by other's 
hand 

And the evil fumes they pestled up between them filled the 
land." ^ 

At the end of his panegyric the poet, turning to the lately 
reconciled tribesmen and their confederates, earnestly warns 
them against nursing thoughts of vengeance : — 

"Will ye hide from God the guilt ye dare not unto Him dis- 
close ? 

Verily, what thing soever ye would hide from God, He knows. 
Either it is laid up meantime in a scroll and treasured there 
For the day of retribution, or avenged all unaware. 3 
War ye have known and war have tasted : not by hearsay are 
ye wise. 

Raise no more the hideous monster ! If ye let her raven, she 
cries 

Ravenously for blood and crushes, like a mill-stone, all below, 
And from her twin-conceiving womb she brings forth woe on 
woe." 6 

After a somewhat obscure passage concerning the lawless 
deeds of a certain Husayn b. Damdam, which had well-nigh 

1 Ghayz b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyan and the ancestor of 
Harim and Harith. 

2 The Ka'ba. 

3 This refers to the religious circumambulation (tawrtf), 
* Vv. 16-19 (Lyall). 

s There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which 
affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan 
Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's belief 
in the Resurrection [K. al-Shi'r wa-l-Shu'ard, p. 58, 1. 12), 

« Vv, 27-31, 



u8 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



caused a fresh outbreak of hostilities, Zuhayr proceeds, with a 
natural and touching allusion to his venerable age, to en- 
force the lessons of conduct and morality suggested by the 
situation : — 

" I am weary of life's burden : well a man may weary be 
After eighty years, and this much now is manifest to me : 
Death is like a night-blind camel stumbling on : — the smitten 
die 

But the others age and wax in weakness whom he passes by. 
He that often deals with folk in unkind fashion, underneath 
They will trample him and make him feel the sharpness of 
their teeth. 

He that hath enough and over and is niggard with his pelf 
Will be hated of his people and left free to hug himself. 
He alone who with fair actions ever fortifies his fame 
Wins it fully : blame will find him out unless he shrinks from 
blame. 

He that for his cistern's guarding trusts not in his own stout 
arm 

Sees it ruined: he must harm his foe or he must suffer harm. 
He that fears the bridge of Death across it finally is driven, 
Though he bridges with a ladder all the space 'twixt earth and 
heaven. 

He that will not take the lance's butt-end while he has the 
chance 

Must thereafter be contented with the spike^end of the lance. 
He that keeps his word is blamed not ; he whose heart re- 

paireth straight 
To the sanctuary of duty never needs to hesitate. 
He that hies abroad to strangers doth account his friends his 

foes ; 

He that honours not himself lacks honour wheresoe'er he goes. 
Be a man's true nature what it will, that nature is revealed 
To his neighbours, let him fancy as he may that 'tis con- 
cealed." 1 

The ripe sententious wisdom and moral earnestness of 
Zuhayr's poetry are in keeping with what has been said 

1 The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows : 56, 57, 54, 
50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 4§, 52, 58, 



ZUHA YR 



119 



above concerning his religious ideas and, from another point 
of view, with the tradition that he used to compose a qaslda 
in four months, correct it for four months, submit it to the 
poets of his acquaintance during a like period, and not 
make it public until a year had expired. 

Of his life there is little to tell. Probably he died before 
Islam, though it is related that when he was a centenarian he 
met the Prophet, who cried out on seeing him, " O God, 
preserve me from his demon ! " 1 The poetical gifts which 
he inherited from his uncle Bashama he bequeathed to his 
son Ka'b, author of the famous ode, Bdnat Su'dd. 

Labld b. Rabi'a, of the Banu 'Amir b. Sa'sa'a, was born in the 
latter half of the sixth century, and is said to have died soon 
after Mu'dwiya's accession to the Caliphate, which 
took place in a.d. 661. He is thus the youngest 
of the Seven Poets. On accepting Islam he abjured poetry, 
saying, "God has given me the Koran in exchange for it." 
Like Zuhayr, he had, even in his heathen days, a strong vein 
of religious feeling, as is shown by many passages in his 
Diwan. 

Labfd was a true Bedouin, and his Mu^allaqa^ with its 
charmingly fresh pictures of desert life and scenery, must be 
considered one of the finest examples of the Pre-islamic qaslda 
that have come down to us. The poet owes something to his 
predecessors, but the greater part seems to be drawn from his 
own observation. He begins in the conventional manner by 
describing the almost unrecognisable vestiges of the camping- 
ground of the clan to which his mistress belonged : — 

"Waste lies the land where once alighted and did wone 
The people of Mina : Rijam and Ghawl are lone. 



1 Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets 
owed their inspiration to the jinn (genii), who are sometimes called 
shaydtm (satans). See Goldziher, Abhand. zur arab. Philologie, Part I, 
pp. 1-14. 



120 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



The camp in Rayyan's vale is marked by relics dim 
Like weather-beaten script engraved on ancient stone. 
Over this ruined scene, since it was desolate, 
Whole years with secular and sacred months had flown. 
In spring 'twas blest by showers 'neath starry influence shed, 
And thunder-clouds bestowed a scant or copious boon. 
Pale herbs had shot up, ostriches on either slope 
Their chicks had gotten and gazelles their young had thrown ; 
And large-eyed wild-cows there beside the new-born calves 
Reclined, while round them formed a troop the calves half- 
grown. 

Torrents of rain had swept the dusty ruins bare, 

Until, as writing freshly charactered, they shone, 

Or like to curved tattoo-lines on a woman's arm, 

With soot besprinkled so that every line is shown. 

I stopped and asked, but what avails it that we ask 

Dumb changeless things that speak a language all unknown?" 1 

After lamenting the departure of his beloved the poet bids 
himself think no more about her : he will ride swiftly away 
from the spot. Naturally, he must praise his camel, and he 
introduces by way of comparison two wonderful pictures of 
animal life. In the former the onager is described racing at 
full speed over the backs of the hills when thirst and hunger 
drive him with his mate far from the barren solitudes into 
which they usually retire. The second paints a wild-cow, 
whose young calf has been devoured by wolves, sleeping 
among the sand-dunes through a night of incessant rain. At 
daybreak " her feet glide over the firm wet soil." For a 
whole week she runs to and fro, anxiously seeking her calf, 
when suddenly she hears the sound of hunters approaching and 
makes off in alarm. Being unable to get within bowshot, the 
hunters loose their dogs, but she turns desperately upon them, 
wounding one with her needle-like horn and killing another. 

Then, once more addressing his beloved, the poet speaks 
complacently of his share in the feasting and revelling, on 
which a noble Arab plumes himself hardly less than on his 
bravery : — 

1 Vv, i-io (Lyal! ), omitting v. 5. 



LAB tD 121 

" Know'st thou not, O Nawar, that I am wont to tie 
The cords of love, yet also snap them without fear ? 
That I abandon places when I like them not, 
Unless Death chain the soul and straiten her career ? 
Nay, surely, but thou know'st not I have passed in talk 
Many a cool night of pleasure and convivial cheer, 
And often to a booth, above which hung for sign 
A banner, have resorted when old wine was dear. 
For no light price I purchased many a dusky skin 
Or black clay jar, and broached it that the juice ran clear ; 
And many a song of shrill-voiced singing-girl I paid, 
And her whose fingers made sweet music to mine ear." 1 

Continuing, he boasts of dangerous service as a spy in the 
enemy's country, when he watched all day on the top or 
a steep crag ; of his fearless demeanour and dignified assertion 
of his rights in an assembly at Hira, to which he came as 
a delegate, and of his liberality to the poor. The closing 
verses are devoted, in accordance with custom, to matters 
of immediate interest and to a panegyric on the virtues of the 
poet's kin. 

Besides the authors of the Mu'allaqat three poets may be 
mentioned, of whom the two first-named are universally 
acknowledged to rank with the greatest that Arabia has 
produced — Nabigha, A'sha, and 'Alqama. 

Nabigha 2 — his proper name is Ziyad b. Mu'awiya, ot the 
tribe Dhubyan — lived at the courts of Ghassan and Hira 
during the latter half of the century before 

N Dhuby a an £ Islam. His chief patron was King Nu'man b. 

Mundhir Abu Qabus of Hira. For many years 
he basked in the sunshine of royal favour, enjoying every 
privilege that Nu'man bestowed on his most intimate friends. 
The occasion of their falling out is differently related. 
According to one story, the poet described the charms of 

1 Vv. 55-60 (Lyall). 

2 The term nabigha is applied to " a poet whose genius is slow in de- 
claring itself but at last^' jets forth vigorously and abundantly " {nabagha). 



122 PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



Queen Mutajarrida, which Nu'man had asked him to 
celebrate, with such charm and liveliness as to excite her 
husband's suspicion ; but it is said — and N&bigha's own words 
make it probable — that his enemies denounced him as the 
author of a scurrilous satire against Nu'man which had been 
forged by themselves. At any rate he had no choice but to 
quit Hi'ra with all speed, and ere long we find him in Ghassan, 
welcomed and honoured, as the panegyrist of King 'Amr b. 
Harith and the noble house of Jafna. But his heart was in 
HIra still. Deeply wounded by the calumnies of which he 
was the victim, he never ceased to affirm his innocence and to 
lament the misery of exile. The following poem, which he 
addressed to Nu'man, is at once a justification and an appeal 
for mercy 1 : — 

" They brought me word, O King, thou blamedst me ; 
For this am I o'erwhelmed with grief and care. 
I passed a sick man's night : the nurses seemed, 
Spreading my couch, to have heaped up briars there. 
Now (lest thou cherish in thy mind a doubt) 
Invoking our last refuge, God, I swear 
That he, whoever told thee I was false, 
Is the more lying and faithless of the pair. 
Exiled perforce, I found a strip of land 
Where I could live and safely take the air : 
Kings made me arbiter of their possessions, 
And called me to their side and spoke me fair — 
Even as thou dost grace thy favourites 
Nor deem'st a fault the gratitude they bear. 2 
O leave thine anger ! Else, in view of men 
A mangy camel, smeared with pitch, I were. 
Seest thou not God hath given thee eminence 
Before which monarchs tremble and despair ? 



1 Diwdn, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 83 ; Noldeke's Delectus, p. 96. 

2 He means to say that Nu'man has no reason to feel aggrieved because 
he (Nabigha) is grateful to the Ghassanids for their munificent patronage ; 
since Nu'man does not consider that his own favourites, in showing grati- 
tude to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards their former 
patrons. 



NABIGHA OF DHUBYAN 123 

All other kings are stars and thou a sun : 
When the sun rises, lo, the heavens are bare ! 
A friend in trouble thou wilt not forsake ; 
I may have sinned : in sinning all men share. 
If I am wronged, thou hast but wronged a slave, 
And if thou spar'st, 'tis like thyself to spare." 

It is pleasant to record that Nabigha was finally reconciled 
to the prince whom he loved, and that Hi'ra again became his 
home. The date of his death is unknown, but it certainly 
took place before Islam was promulgated. Had the oppor- 
tunity been granted to him he might have died a Moslem : he 
calls himself i a religious man ' (dhii ummaf"), 1 and although 
the tradition that he was actually a Christian lacks authority, 
his long residence in Syria and 'Iraq must have made him 
acquainted with the externals of Christianity and with some, 
at least, of its leading ideas. 

The grave and earnest tone characteristic of Nabigha's poetry 
seldom prevails in that of his younger contemporary, Maymun 
b. Qays, who is generally known by his surname, 
al-A'sha — that is, c the man of weak sight.' A 
professional troubadour, he roamed from one end of Arabia to 
the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those who 
rewarded him; and such was his fame as a satirist that few 
ventured to withhold the bounty which he asked. By common 
consent he stands in the very first rank of Arabian poets. 
Abu 'l-Faraj, the author of the Kitdbu 'l-Aghani, declares him 
to be superior to all the rest, adding, however, " this opinion is 
not held unanimously as regards A'sha or any other." His 

1 Diwdn, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. 81, 
vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved : — 

" Wadd give thee greeting ! for dalliance with women is lawful to me 
no more, 

Since Religion has become a serious matter." 

Wadd was a god worshipped by the pagan Arabs. Derenbourg's text 
has rabbi, i.e., Allah, but see Noldeke's remarks in Z.D.M.G., vol. xli 
(1887), p. 708. 



124 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



wandering life brought him into contact with every kind of 
culture then existing in Arabia. Although he was not an 
avowed Christian, his poetry shows to what an extent he was 
influenced by the Bishops of Najr&n, with whom he was 
intimately connected, and by the Christian merchants of 
Hira who sold him their wine. He did not rise above 
the pagan level of morality. 

It is related that he set out to visit Muhammad for the purpose 
of reciting to him an ode which he had composed in his honour. 
When the Quraysh heard of this, they feared lest their adversary's 
reputation should be increased by the panegyric of a bard so famous 
and popular. Accordingly, they intercepted him on his way, and 
asked whither he was bound. " To your kinsman," said he, " that I 
may accept Islam." " He will forbid and make unlawful to thee 
certain practices of which thou art fond." " What are these ?" said 
A'sha. "Fornication," said Abu Sufyan. "I have not abandoned it," 
he replied, " but it has abandoned me. What else ? " " Gambling." 
" Perhaps I shall obtain from him something to compensate me for 
the loss of gambling. What else ? " " Usury." " I have never 
borrowed nor lent. What else ? " " Wine." " Oh, in that case I will 
drink the water I have left stored at al-Mihras." Seeing that A'sha 
was not to be deterred, Abu Sufyan offered him a hundred camels 
on condition that he should return to his home in Yamama 
and await the issue of the struggle between Muhammad and 
the Quraysh. " I agree," said A'sha. " O ye Quraysh," cried Abu 
Sufyan, " this is A'sha, and by God, if he becomes a follower of 
Muhammad, he will inflame the Arabs against you by his poetry. 
Collect, therefore, a hundred camels for him. " 1 

A'sha excels in the description of wine and wine-parties. 
One who visited Manfuha in Yamama, where the poet was 
buried, relates that revellers used to meet at his grave and pour 
out beside it the last drops that remained in their cups. As an 
example of his style in this genre I translate a few lines from 
the most celebrated of his poems, which is included by some 
critics among the M u^allaqdt : — 

1 Aghdni, viii, 85, last line-86, 1. to, 



A'SHA AND 'ALQAMA 12$ 



" Many a time I hastened early to the tavern — while there ran 
At my heels a ready cook, a nimble, active serving-man — 
'Midst a gallant troop, like Indian scimitars, of mettle high ; 
Well they know that every mortal, shod and bare alike, must 
die. 

Propped at ease I greet them gaily, them with myrtle-boughs I 
greet, 

Pass among them wine that gushes from the jar's mouth bitter- 
sweet. 

Emptying goblet after goblet — but the source may no man 
drain — 

Never cease they from carousing save to cry, ■ Fill up again ! ' 
Briskly runs the page to serve them : on his ears hang pearls : 
below, 

Tight the girdle draws his doublet as he bustles to and fro. 
'Twas the harp, thou mightest fancy, waked the lute's respon- 
sive note, 

When the loose-robed chantress touched it and sang shrill with 

quavering throat. 
Here and there among the party damsels fair superbly glide : 
Each her long white skirt lets trail and swings a wine-skin at 

her side." 1 

Very little is known of the life of 'Alqama b. 'Abada, who 
was surnamed al-Faf}I (the Stallion). His most famous poem 
is that which he addressed to the Ghassanid Harith 
al-A'raj after the Battle of Halima, imploring him 
to set free some prisoners of Tamfm — the poet's tribe — 
among whom was his own brother or nephew, Shas. The 
following lines have almost become proverbial : — 

" Of women do ye ask me ? I can spy 
Their ailments with a shrewd physician's eye. 
The man whose head is grey or small his herds 
No favour wins of them but mocking words. 
Are riches known, to riches they aspire, 
And youthful bloom is still their heart's desire." 2 



1 Lyall, Ten Ancient Arabic Poems, p. 146 seq., vv. 25-31. 

2 Ahlwardt, The Divans, p. 106, vv. 8-10. 



126 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



In view of these slighting verses it is proper to observe that 
the poetry of Arabian women of the Pre-islamic period is dis- 
tinctly masculine in character. Their songs are 
seldom of Love, but often of Death. Elegy 
(rithd or marthiya) was regarded as their special province. 
The oldest form of elegy appears in the verses chanted on 
the death of Ta'abbata Sharr an by his sister : — 



"O the good knight ye left low at Rakhman, 
Thabit son of Jabir son of Sufyan ! 
He filled the cup for friends and ever slew his man." 1 



" As a rule the Arabian dirge is very simple. The poetess 
begins with a description of her grief, of the tears that she 
cannot quench, and then she shows how worthy to be deeply 
mourned was he whom death has taken away. He is described 
as a pattern of the two principal Arabian virtues, bravery and 
liberality, and the question is anxiously asked, * Who will now 
make high resolves, overthrow the enemy, and in time of want 
feed the poor and entertain the stranger ? ' If the hero of the 
dirge died a violent death we find in addition a burning lust of 
revenge, a thirst for the slayer's blood, expressed with an 
intensity of feeling of which only women are capable." 2 

Among Arabian women who have excelled in poetry the 
place of honour is due to Khansa — her real name was 
Kh , Tumadir — who flourished in the last years before 
Islam. By far the most famous of her elegies 
are those in which she bewailed her valiant brothers, Mu'dwiya 
and Sakhr, both of whom were struck down by sword or 
spear. It is impossible to translate the poignant and vivid 
emotion, the energy of passion and noble simplicity of style 
which distinguish the poetry of Khansd, but here are a 
few verses : — 

1 Hamdsa, p. 382, 1. 17. 

8 Noldeke, Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alien Amber, p. 152. 



WOMEN AS E LEGISTS 12; 



Death's messenger cried aloud the loss of the generous one, 
So loud cried he, by my life, that far he was heard and wide. 
Then rose I, and scarce my soul could follow to meet the 
news, 

For anguish and sore dismay and horror that Sakhr had died. 
In my misery and despair I seemed as a drunken man, 
Upstanding awhile — then soon his tottering limbs subside." 1 

Yudhakkirum tulu'u 'l-shatnsi Sakhr* 111 
wa-adhkuruhiL likulli ghunibi shamsi. 

"Sunrise awakes in me the sad remembrance 
Of Sakhr, and I recall him at every sunset." 

To the poets who have been enumerated many might be 
added — e.g., Hassan b. Thabit, who was ' retained ' by the 
Prophet and did useful work on his behalf : Ka'b 

The last poets , 

b o r f n p?ganism ge Zuhayr, author of the famous panegyric on 
Muhammad beginning " Banat Su'dd" (Su'ad has 
departed) ; Mutammim b. Nuwayra, who, like Khansa, 
mourned the loss of a brother ; Abu Mihjan, the singer or 
wine, whose devotion to the forbidden beverage was punished 
by the Caliph c Umar with imprisonment and exile ; and 
al-Hutay'a (the Dwarf), who was unrivalled in satire. All 
these belonged to the class of MukhadramUn, i.e., they were 
born in the Pagan Age but died, if not Moslems, at any rate 
after the proclamation of Islam. 

The grammarians of Basra and Kufa, by whom the remains 
of ancient Arabian poetry were rescued from oblivion, arranged 
and collected their material according to various 

Collections of . , . , , r . , . . , , 

ancient poetry, principles. Either the poems or an individual or 
those of a number of individuals belonging to the 
same tribe or class were brought together — such a collection 
was called Diwdn, plural Dawdwln ; or, again, the compiler 
edited a certain number of qasidas chosen for their fame or 



1 Noldeke, ibid., p. 175. 



128 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



excellence or on other grounds, or he formed an anthology of 
shorter pieces or fragments, which were arranged under dif- 
ferent heads according to their subject-matter. 

Among Diwdns mention may be made of The Dlwdns of 
the Six Poets, viz. Nabigha, 'Antara, Tarafa, Zuhayr, 'Alqama, 

Diwans anc * I mru ' u 'l"Q avs > edited with a full commen- 
tary by the Spanish philologist al-A c lam 
({1083 a.d.) and published in 1870 by Ahlwardt ; and of 
The Poems of the Hudhaylites (Asfrdru 'l-Hudhaliyytn) collected 
by al-Sukkari (f 888 a.d.), which have been published by 
Kosegarten and Wellhausen. 

The chief Anthologies, taken in the order of their composi- 
tion, are : — 

1. The Mu'al/aqat, which is the title given to a collection 
of seven odes by Imru'u 'l-Qays, Tarafa, Zuhayr, Labid, 

'Antara, c Amr b. Kulthum, and Harith b. Hilliza ; 
i.'The^Ste- to these two odes by Nabigha and A'sha are 

sometimes added. The compiler was probably 
Hammad al-Rawiya, a famous rhapsodist of Persian descent, 
who flourished under the Umayyads and died in the second 
half of the eighth century of our era. As the Mitallaqat have 
been discussed above, we may pass on directly to a much 
larger, though less celebrated, collection dating from the same 
period, viz. : — 

2. The Mufaddaliyyat* by which title it is generally known 
after its compiler, Mufaddal al-Dabbi (f circa 786 a.d.), who 

made it at the instance of the Caliph Mansiir for 
2 ' The uyydt 44a " the instruction of his son and successor, Mahdf. 

It comprises 128 odes and is extant in two 
recensions, that of Anbari (f 916 a.d.), which derives from 
Ibnu 'l-A'rabf, the stepson of Mufaddal, and that of Marziiqf 
(fi030 a.d.). About a third of the Mufaddaliyyat was pub- 

\* The original title is al-Mukhtdrdt (The Selected Odes) or al-Ikhtiydrdt 
(The Selections). 



THE PRINCIPAL COLLECTIONS 



lished in 1885 by Thorbecke, and Sir Charles Lyall is now 
preparing a complete edition. 1 

All students of Arabian poetry are familiar with — 
3. The Hamdsa of Abu Tammam Habib b. Aws, himself a 
distinguished poet, who flourished under the Caliphs Ma'miin 
and Mu'tasim, and died about 850 a.d. Towards 
oiAbuT^mS the end of his life he visited •Abdullah b. Tahir, the 
powerful governor of Khurasan, who was virtually 
an independent sovereign. It was on this journey, as Ibn 
Khallikan relates, that Abu Tammam composed the Hamdsa ; 
for on arriving at Hamadhan (Ecbatana) the winter had set in, 
and as the cold was excessively severe in that country, the 
snow blocked up the road and obliged him to stop and await 
the thaw. During his stay he resided with one of the most 
eminent men of the place, who possessed a library in which 
were some collections of poems composed by the Arabs of the 
desert and other authors. Having then sufficient leisure, he 
perused those works and selected from them the passages out of 
which he formed his Hamdsa. 2 The work is divided into ten 
sections of unequal length, the first, from which it received its 
name, occupying (together with the commentary) 360 pages 
in Frey tag's edition, while the seventh and eighth require only 
thirteen pages between them. These sections or chapters 
bear the following titles : — 

I. The Chapter of Fortitude {Bdbu 'l-Hamdsa). 

II. The Chapter of Dirges {Bdbu 'l-Mardthi). 
HI. the Chapter of Good Manners (Bdbu H-Adab). 
IV. The Chapter of Love-songs {Bdbu 'l-Nasib). 

V. The Chapter of Satire {Bdbu 'l-Hijd). 

VI. The Chapter of Guests (Hospitality) and Panegyric {Bdbu 
'l-Adydf wa'-l-Madih). 



1 A Projected Edition of the Mufaddaliydt, by Sir Charles Lyall. 
J.R.A.S. for 1904, p. 315 sqq. 

2 Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wiistenfeld, No. 350 = De Slane's translation, 
vol. ii, p. 51. 

10 



130 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



VII. The Chapter of Descriptions (Bdbu 'l-Sifdt). 
VIII. The Chapter of Travel and Repose (Bdbu 'ISayr wa- 
'l-Nu'ds). 

IX. The Chapter of Facetiae (Bdbu 'l-Mulah). 
X. The Chapter of Vituperation of Women (Bdbu Madhammati 
'l-Nisd). 



The contents of the Hamdsa include short poems complete 
in themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems ; 
of the poets represented, some of whom belong to the Pre- 
islamic and others to the early Islamic period, comparatively 
few are celebrated, while many are anonymous or only known 
by the verses attached to their names. If the high level of 
excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the one 
hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and 
that the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of 
Arabian society, we must not forget how much is due to the 
fine taste of Abu Tammam, who, as the commentator 
Tibrizi has remarked, " is a better poet in his Hamdsa than 
in his poetry." 

4. The Hamdsa of BuhtuH (f 897 a.d.), a younger con- 
temporary of Abu Tammam, is inferior to its model. 1 How- 
ever convenient from a practical standpoint, the 

4 ' of BuSur?. sa division into a great number of sections, each 
illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously 
impairs the artistic value of the work ; moreover, Buhturi 
seems to have had a less catholic appreciation of the beauties 
of poetry — he admired, it is said, only what was in harmony 
with his own style and ideas. 

5. The Jamharatu Asftdri 9 l~ c Arab y a collection of forty- 

nine odes, was put together probably about 

5 ' T \ e Ja m ' 1000 A,D - b 7 Abu ^ a 7 d Muhammad al-Qurashi, 
of whom we find no mention elsewhere. 

1 See Noldeke, Beitriige, p. 183 sqq. There would seem to be com- 
paratively few poems of Pre-islamic date in Buhturi's anthology. 



ORAL TRADITION 



131 



Apart from the Dlwdns and anthologies, numerous Pre- 
islamic verses are cited in biographical, philological, and other 
c works, e.g., the Kitdbu U-Aghdni by Abu '1-Faraj 
of Isfahan (f 967 a.d.), the c Iqd al-Farid by Ibn 
'Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova ( f 940 a.d.), the Kdmil of Mubarrad 
(f 898 a.d.), and the Khizdnatu *l-Adab of c Abdu '1-Qadir of 
Baghdad (f 1682 a.d.). 

We have seen that the oldest existing poems date from the 
beginning of the fifth century of our era, whereas the art of 
writing: did not come into general use among; the 

The tradition A , & i_ j j r j 

of Pre-isiamic Arabs until some two hundred years afterwards. 

poetry. 

Pre-islamic poetry, therefore, was preserved by 
oral tradition alone, and the question arises, How was this 
possible ? What guarantee have we that songs living on 
men's lips for so long a period have retained their original 
form, even approximately ? No doubt many verses, e.g., those 
which glorified the poet's tribe or satirised their enemies, 
were constantly being recited by his kin, and in this way 
short occasional poems or fragments of longer ones might be 
perpetuated. Of whole qasidas like the Mu^allaqdt, however, 
none or very few would have reached us if their survival 
had depended solely on their popularity. What actually saved 
them in the first place was an institution resembling that of 
, , the Rhapsodists in Greece. Every professed poet 

The Rawis. r , J . . 

had his Rdwi (reciter), who accompanied him 
everywhere, committed his poems to memory, and handed 
them down, as well as the circumstances connected with 
them, to others. The characters of poet and rdwi were 
often combined ; thus Zuhayr was the rdwi of his step- 
father, Aws b. Hajar, while his own rdwi was al-Hutay'a. 
If the tradition of poetry was at first a labour of love, it 
afterwards became a lucrative business, and the Rdwis, 
instead of being attached to individual poets, began to form 
an independent class, carrying in their memories a prodigious 



PRE- 1 SLA MIC POETRY 



stock of ancient verse and miscellaneous learning. It is 
related, for example, that Hammad once said to the Caliph 
Walid b. Yazid : " I can recite to you, for each letter of 
the alphabet, one hundred long poems rhyming in that 
letter, without taking into count the short pieces, and all 
that composed exclusively by poets who lived before the 
promulgation of Islamism." He commenced and continued 
until the Caliph, having grown fatigued, withdrew, after 
leaving a person in his place to verify the assertion and 
hear him to the last. In that sitting he recited two 
thousand nine hundred qasidas by poets who flourished 
before Muhammad. Walid, on being informed of the fact, 
ordered him a present of one hundred thousand dirhems. 1 
Thus, towards the end of the first century after the Flight, 
i.e., about 700 a.d., when the custom of writing poetry 
began, there was much of Pre-islamic origin still in circula- 
tion, although it is probable that far more had already been 
irretrievably lost. Numbers of Rdwis perished in the wars, 
or passed away in the course of nature, without leaving any 
one to continue their tradition. New times had brought 
new interests and other ways of life. The great majority 
of Moslems had no sympathy whatever with the ancient 
poetry, which represented in their eyes the unregenerate 
spirit of heathendom. They wanted nothing beyond the 
Koran and the Hadith. But for reasons which will be 
stated in another chapter the language of the Koran and 
the Hadith was rapidly becoming obsolete as a spoken 
idiom outside of the Arabian peninsula : the i perspicuous 
Arabic' on which Muhammad prided himself had ceased 
to be fully intelligible to the Moslems settled in 'Iraq 
and Khurasan, in Syria, and in Egypt. It was essen- 
tial that the Sacred Text should be explained, and this 
necessity gave birth to the sciences of Grammar and Lexi- 

1 Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wiistenfeld, No. 204 = De Slane's translation, 
vol. i, p. 470. 



THE RAwlS OR RHAPSODISTS 133 



cography. The Philologists, or, as they have been aptly 
designated, the Humanists of Basra and Kufa, where these 
studies were prosecuted with peculiar zeal, natu- 

The Humanists. r r . . 

rally found their best material in the Pre-islamic 
poems — a well of Arabic undefiled. At first the ancient 
poetry merely formed a basis for philological research, but 
in process of time a literary enthusiasm was awakened. The 
surviving Rdwls were eagerly sought out and induced to 
yield up their stores, the compositions of famous poets were 
collected, arranged, and committed to writing, and as the 
demand increased, so did the supply. 1 

In these circumstances a certain amount of error was in- 
evitable. Apart from unconscious failings of memory, there 

can be no doubt that in many cases the Rdwls 

Corrupt .... . 

tradition of the acted with intent to deceive. The temptation 
to father their own verses, or centos which 
they pieced together from sources known only to them- 
selves, upon some poet of antiquity was all the stronger 
because they ran little risk of detection. In knowledge of 
poetry and in poetical talent they were generally far more 
than a match for the philologists, who seldom possessed any 
critical ability, but readily took whatever came to hand. The 
stories which are told of Hammad al-Rawiya, 
awSya. clearly show how unscrupulous he was in his 
methods, and we have no reason to suppose 
that he was an exception to the rule. His contemporary, 
Mufaddal al-Dabbi, is reported to have said that the corrup- 
tion which poetry suffered through Hammad could never be 
repaired, " for," he added, " Hammdd is a man skilled in the 
language and poesy of the Arabs and in the styles and ideas of 
the poets, and he is always making verses in imitation of some 

1 Many interesting details concerning the tradition of Pre-islamic 
poetry by the Rdwi's and the Philologists will be found in Ahlwardt's 
Bemerkungen ueber die Aechthcit dcr alien Arabischen Gedichte (Greifs- 
wald, 1872), which has supplied materials for the present sketch. 



134 P RE-IS LA MIC POETRY 



one and introducing them into genuine compositions by the 
same author, so that the copy passes everywhere for part of the 
original, and cannot be distinguished from it except by critical 
scholars — and where are such to be found ? " 1 This art 

of forgery was brought to perfection by Khalaf 
aiShmar. al-Ahmar (f about 800 a.d.), who learned it in 

the school of Hammad. If he really composed 
the famous Ldmiyya ascribed to Shanfara, his own poetical 
endowments must have been of the highest order. In his 
old age he repented and confessed that he was the author 
of several poems which the scholars of Basra and Kufa had 
accepted as genuine, but they laughed him to scorn, saying, 
" What you said then seems to us more trustworthy than 
your present assertion." 

Besides the corruptions due to the Rdwis, others have been 
accumulated by the philologists themselves. As the Koran 

and the Hadith were, of course, spoken and 
0t c h o e rrSS S o e n. of afterwards written in the dialect of Quraysh, to 
whom Muhammad belonged, this dialect was 
regarded as the classical standard ; 2 consequently the varia- 
tions therefrom which occurred in the ancient poems were, 
for the most part, 'emended' and harmonised with it. 
Many changes were made under the influence of Islam, 
e.g., 'Allah* was probably often substituted for the pagan 
goddess 'al-Lat.' Moreover, the structure of the qasida y 
its disconnectedness and want of logical cohesion, favoured 
the omission and transposition of whole passages or single 
verses. All these modes of depravation might be illus- 
trated in detail, but from what has been said the reader 
can judge for himself how far the poems, as they now 
stand, are likely to have retained the form in which they 
were first uttered to the wild Arabs of the Pre-islamic Age. 

1 Aghdni, v, 172, 1. 16 sqq. 

2 This view, however, is in accordance neither with the historical facts 
nor with the public opinion of the 1 Pre-islamic Arabs (see Noldeke, Die 
Semitischen Sprachen, p. 47). 



INFLUENCE OF RELIGION 135 



Religion had so little influence on the lives of the Pre- 
islamic Arabs that we cannot expect to find much trace 

Religion °^ * n t ^ le ^ r P oetr y« They believed vaguely 
in a supreme God, Allah, and more definitely 
in his three daughters — al-Lat, Manat, and al- c Uzza — who 
were venerated all over Arabia and whose intercession was 
graciously accepted by Allah. There were also numerous 
idols enjoying high favour while they continued to bring 
good luck to their worshippers. Of real piety the ordinary 
Bedouin knew nothing. He felt no call to pray to his 
gods, although he often found them convenient to swear 
by. He might invoke Allah in the hour of need, as a 
drowning man will clutch at a straw ; but his faith in 
superstitious ceremonies was stronger. He did not take his 
religion too seriously. Its practical advantages he was quick 
to appreciate. Not to mention baser pleasures, it gave him 
rest and security during the four sacred months, in which 
war was forbidden, while the institution of the Meccan 
Pilgrimage enabled him to take part in a national fete. 

Commerce went hand in hand with religion. 
Th, UkK° f Great fairs were held, the most famous being 
that of 'Ukaz, which lasted for twenty days. 
These fairs were in some sort the centre of old Arabian 
social, political, and literary life. It was the only occasion 
on which free and fearless intercourse was possible between 
the members of different clans. 1 

Plenty of excitement was provided by poetical and oratorical 
displays — not by athletic sports, as in ancient Greece and 
modern England. Here rival poets declaimed their verses 
and submitted them to the judgment of an acknowledged 
master. Nowhere else had rising talents such an oppor- 
tunity of gaining wide reputation : what l Ukaz said to-day 
all Arabia would repeat to-morrow. At 'Uk&z, we are told, 
the youthful Muhammad listened, as though spellbound, to 
1 See Wellhausen, Restc Arab. Heidentums (2nd ed.), p. 88 seq. 



136 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



the persuasive eloquence of Quss b. Sa'ida, Bishop of Najran ; 
and he may have contrasted the discourse of the Christian 
preacher with the brilliant odes chanted by heathen bards. 

The Bedouin view of life was thoroughly hedonistic. Love, 
wine, gambling, hunting, the pleasures of song and romance, 
the brief, pointed, and elegant expression of wit and wisdom — 
these things he knew to be good. Beyond them he saw only 
the grave. 

" Roast meat and wine : the swinging ride 
On a camel sure and tried, 
Which her master speeds amain 
O'er low dale and level plain : 
Women marble-white and fair 
Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare : 
Opulence, luxurious ease, 
With the lute's soft melodies — 
Such delights hath our brief span ; 
Time is Change, Time's fool is Man. 
Wealth or want, great store or small, 
All is one since Death's are all." 1 

It would be a ^mistake to suppose that these men always, 
or even generally, passed their lives in the aimless pursuit 
of pleasure. Some goal they had — earthly, no doubt — such as 
the accumulation of wealth or the winning of glory or the ful- 
filment of blood-revenge. " God forbid" says one, " that I 
should die while a grievous longing, as it were a mountain, 
weighs on my breast ! " 2 A deeper chord is touched by 
Imru'u '1-Qays : " If I strove for a bare livelihood, scanty 
means would suffice me and I would seek no more. But I 
strive for lasting renown, and 'tis men like me that some- 
times attain lasting renown. Never, while life endures, does 
a man reach the summit of his ambition or cease from toil" Z 

1 Hamdsa, 506. 2 Ibid., 237. 

3 Dtwdn of Imru'u 'l-Qays, ed. by De Slane, p. 22 of the Arabic text, 
1. 17 sqq. = No. 52, 11. 57-59 (p. 154) in Ahlwardt's Divans of the Six Poets. 



JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY 137 



These are noble sentiments nobly expressed. Yet one hears 
the sigh of weariness, as if the speaker were struggling against 
the conviction that his cause is already lost, and would welcome 
the final stroke of destiny. It was a time of wild uproar and 
confusion. Tribal and family feuds filled the land, as Zuhayr 
says, with evil fumes. No wonder that earnest and thoughtful 
minds asked themselves — What worth has our life, what mean- 
ing ? Whither does it lead ? Such questions paganism could 
not answer, but Arabia in the century before Muhammad was 
not wholly abandoned to paganism. Jewish colonists had long 
been settled in the Hijaz. Probably the earliest settlements 
date from the conquest of Palestine by Titus or Hadrian. In 

d . d their new home the refugees, through contact 
Christianity in with a people nearly akin to themselves, became 

Arabia. J \ 

fully Arabicised, as the few extant specimens of 
their poetry bear witness. They remained Jews, however, 
not only in their cultivation of trade and various industries, but 
also in the most vital particular — their religion. This, and 
the fact that they lived in isolated communities among the 
surrounding population, marked them out as the salt of the 
desert. In the Hijaz their spiritual predominance was not 
seriously challenged. It was otherwise in Yemen. We may 
leave out of account the legend according to which Judaism 
was introduced into that country from the Hijaz by the 
Tubba' As'ad Kamil. What is certain is that towards the 
beginning of the sixth century it was firmly planted there 
side by side with Christianity, and that in the person of 
the Himyarite monarch Dhu Nuwas, who adopted the Jewish 
faith, it won a short-lived but sanguinary triumph over its 
rival. But in Yemen, except among the highlanders of 
Najran, Christianity does not appear to have flourished as it 
did in the extreme north and north-east, where the Roman and 

With the last line, however, cf the words of Qays b. al-Khatim on accom- 
plishing his vengeance : " When this death comes, there will not be found 
any need of my soul that I have not satisfied" {Hamdsa, 87). 



138 P RE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



Persian frontiers were guarded by the Arab levies of Ghassan 
and Hfra. We have seen that the latter city contained a large 

Christian population who were called distinctively 
T o h f e H?a d ' Ib H Servants (of God). Through them 

the Aramaic culture of Babylonia was transmitted 
to all parts of the peninsula. They had learned the art of 
writing long before it was generally practised in Arabia, as is 
shown by the story of Tarafa and Mutalammis, and they pro- 
duced the oldest written poetry in the Arabic language — a 
poetry very different in character from that which forms 
the main subject of this chapter. Unfortunately the bulk 
of it has perished, since the rhapsodists, to whom we owe 
the preservation of so much Pre-islamic verse, were devoted to 
the traditional models and would not burden their memories 
with anything new-fashioned. The most famous of the 'Ibadi 
poets is 'Adi b. Zayd, whose adventurous career as a politician 
has been sketched above. He is not reckoned by Muhamma- 
dan critics among the Fuhul or poets of the first rank, because 

he was a townsman iqarawi). In this connec- 

'Adi b. Zayd. . r „ VT / . . 

tion the following anecdote is instructive. The 
poet al-'Ajjaj (f about 709 a.d.) said of his contemporaries 
al-Tirimmah and al-Kumayt: "They used to ask me concern- 
ing rare expressions in the language of poetry, and I informed 
them, but v afterwards I found the same expressions wrongly 
applied in their poems, the reason being that they were 
townsmen who described what they had not seen and mis- 
applied it, whereas I who am a Bedouin describe what I 
have seen and apply it properly." 1 'Adi is chiefly remembered 
for his wine-songs. Oriental Christianity has always been 
associated with the drinking and selling of wine. Christian 
ideas were carried into the heart of Arabia by c Ibid{ wine 
merchants, who are said to have taught their religion to the 
celebrated A'sha. 'Adf drank and was merry like the rest, but 
the underlying thought, 'for to-morrow we die,' repeatedly 
1 Aghdni, ii, 18, 1. 23 sqq. 



RELIGIOUS IDEAS 



139 



makes itself heard. He walks beside a cemetery, and the 
voices of the dead call to him — 1 

" Thou who seest us unto thyself shalt say, 
'Soon upon me comes the season of decay.' 
Can the solid mountains evermore sustain 
Time's vicissitudes and all they bring in train ? 
Many a traveller lighted near us and abode, 
Quaffing wine wherein the purest water flowed — 
Strainers on each flagon's mouth to clear the wine, 
Noble steeds that paw the earth in trappings fine ! 
For a while they lived in lap of luxury, 
Fearing no misfortune, dallying lazily. 
Then, behold, Time swept them all, like chaff, away : 
Thus it is men fall to whirling Time a prey. 
Thus it is Time keeps the bravest and the best 
Night and day still plunged in Pleasure's fatal quest." 

It is said that the recitation of these verses induced Nu'man 
al-Akbar, one of the mythical pagan kings of Hira, to accept 
Christianity and become an anchorite. Although the story 
involves an absurd anachronism, it is ben trovato in so far as it 
records the impression which the graver sort of Christian 
poetry was likely to make on heathen minds. 

The courts of Hira and Ghassan were well known to the 
wandering minstrels of the time before Muhammad, who 
flocked thither in eager search of patronage and remuneration. 
We may be sure that men like Nabigha, Labid, and A'sha did 
not remain unaffected by the culture around them, even if it 
seldom entered very deeply into their lives. That considerable 
traces of religious feeling are to be found in Pre-islamic poetry 
admits of no denial, but the passages in question were formerly 
explained as due to interpolation. This view no longer pre- 
vails. Thanks mainly to the arguments of Von 
poSynSex- Kremer, Sir Charles Lyall, and Wellhausen, it 
C in S sInfimelt a . n nas come to be recognised (1) that in many cases 
the above-mentioned religious feeling is not 
Islamic in tone ; (2) that the passages in which it occurs 
1 Aghdm, ii, 34, 1. 22 sqq. 



HO PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY 



are not of Islamic origin ; and (3) that it is the natural and 
necessary result of the widely spread, though on the whole 
superficial, influence of Judaism, and especially of Christianity. 1 
It shows itself not only in frequent allusions, e.g., to the monk 
in his solitary cell, whose lamp serves to light belated travellers 
on their way, and in more significant references, such as that 
of Zuhayr already quoted, to the Heavenly Book in which evil 
actions are enscrolled for the Day of Reckoning, but also in 
the tendency to moralise, to look within, to meditate on death, 
and to value the life of the individual rather than the continued 
existence of the family. These things are not characteristic 
of old Arabian poetry, but the fact that they do appear at 
times is quite in accord with the other facts which have been 
stated, and justifies the conclusion that during the sixth century 
religion and culture were imperceptibly extending their sphere 
of influence in Arabia, leavening the pagan masses, and 
gradually preparing the way for Islam. 

1 See Von Kremer, Ucber die Gedichte des Labyd in S.B.W.A., 
Phil.-Hist. Klasse (Vienna, 1881), vol. 98, p. 555 sqq. Sir Charles Lyall, 
Ancient Arabian Poetry, pp. 92 and 119. Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen 
Heidentums (2nd ed.), p. 224 sqq. 



CHAPTER IV 



THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 

With the appearance of Muhammad the almost impenetrable 
veil thrown over the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we 
find ourselves on the solid ground of historical tradition. In 
order that the reasons for this change may be understood, it is 
necessary to give some account of the principal sources from 
which our knowledge of the Prophet's life and teaching is 
derived. 

There is first, of course, the Koran, 1 consisting " exclusively 
of the revelations or commands which Muhammad professed, 

from time to time, to receive through Gabriel as 
maffon :° i. 1 The" a message direct from God ; and which, under an 

alleged Divine direction, he delivered to those 
about him. At the time of pretended inspiration, or shortly 
after, each passage was recited by Muhammad before the 
Companions or followers who happened to be present, and was 
generally committed to writing by some one amongst them 
upon palm-leaves, leather, stones, or such other rude material 
as conveniently came to hand. These Divine messages con- 
tinued throughout the three-and-twenty years of his prophetical 
life, so that the last portion did not appear till the year of his 
death. The canon was then closed ; but the contents were 

1 I prefer to retain the customary spelling instead of Qur'an, as it is 
correctly transliterated by scholars. Arabic words naturalised in English, 
like Koran, Caliph, Vizier, &c, require no apology. 

141 



142 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



never, during the Prophet's lifetime, systematically arranged, 
or even collected together." 1 They were preserved, how- 
ever, in fragmentary copies and, especially, by oral 
"rServed 3 recitation until the sanguinary wars which fol- 
lowed Muhammad's death had greatly diminished 
the number of those who could repeat them by heart. 
Accordingly, after the battle of Yamama (633 a.d.) 'Umar 
b. al-Khattab came to Abu Bakr, who was then Caliph, and 
said : " I fear that slaughter may wax hot among the 
Reciters on other battle-fields, and that much of the Koran 
may be lost ; so in my opinion it should be collected without 
delay." Abu Bakr agreed, and entrusted the task to Zayd 
b. Thabit, one of the Prophet's amanuenses, who collected 
the fragments with great difficulty " from bits of parchment, 
thin white stones, leafless palm-branches, and the bosoms of 
men." The manuscript thus compiled was deposited with 
Abu Bakr during the remainder of his life, then with MJmar, 
on whose death it passed to his daughter Hafsa. Afterwards, 
in the Caliphate of 'Uthman, Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman, observ- 
ing that the Koran as read in Syria was seriously at variance 
with the text current in 'Iraq, warned the Caliph to interfere, 
lest the Sacred Book of the Moslems should become a subject 
of dispute, like the Jewish and Christian scriptures. In the 
year 651 a.d. 'Uthman ordered Zayd b. Thabit to prepare a 
Revised Version with the assistance of three Qurayshites, 
saying to the latter, " If ye differ from Zayd regarding any 
word of the Koran, write it in the dialect of Quraysh ; for it 
was revealed in their dialect." 2 This has ever since remained 
the final and standard recension of the Koran. " Transcripts 
were multiplied and forwarded to the chief cities in the empire, 
and all previously existing copies were, by the Caliph's com- 

1 Muir's Life of Mahomet, Introduction, p. 2 seq. I may as well say at 
once that I entirely disagree with the view suggested in this passage that 
Muhammad did not believe himself to be inspired. 

2 The above details are taken from the Fihrist, ed. by G. Fluegel, p. 24, 
1. 14 sqq. 



HISTORICAL VALUE OF THE KORAN 143 



mand, committed to the flames." 1 In the text as it has come 
down to us the various readings are few and unimportant, and 
its genuineness is above suspicion. We shall see, 

Koranasin 6 moreover, that the Koran is an exceedingly 
authority. h uman document, reflecting every phase of 
Muhammad's personality and standing in close relation to the 
ontward events of his life, so that here we have materials of 
unique and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and 
early development of Islam — such materials as do not exist in 
the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any other ancient 
religion. Unfortunately the arrangement of the Koran can 
only be described as chaotic. No chronological sequence is 
observed in the order of the Suras (chapters), which is deter- 
mined simply by their length, the longest being placed first. 2 
Again, the chapters themselves are sometimes made up of 
disconnected fragments having nothing in common except the 
rhyme ; whence it is often impossible to discover the original 
context of the words actually spoken by the Prophet, the 
occasion on which they were revealed, or the period to which 
they belong. In these circumstances the Koran must be 
supplemented by reference to our second main source of in- 
formation, namely, Tradition. 

Already in the last years of Muhammad's life (writes Dr. 
Sprenger) it was a pious custom that when two Moslems met, 
one should ask for news (hadith) and the other 

2 (Hadtth)° n should relate a saying or anecdote of the Prophet. 

After his death this custom continued, and the 
name Hadith was still applied to sayings and stories which 
were no longer new.3 In the course of time an elaborate 
system of Tradition was built up, as the Koran — originally the 
sole criterion by which Moslems were guided alike in the 

1 Muir, op. tit, Introduction, p. 14. 

2 With the exception of the Opening Sura (al-Fdtiha), which is a short 
prayer. 

3 Sprenger, Ueber das Traditionswesen bei den Arabem, Z.D.M.G., 
vol. x, p. 2, 



144 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



greatest and smallest matters of public and private interest — 
was found insufficient for the complicated needs of a rapidly 
extending empire. Appeal was made to the sayings and 
practice (sunna) of Muhammad, which now acquired "the 
force of law and some of the authority of inspiration." The 
Prophet had no Boswell, but almost as soon as he began to 
preach he was a marked man whose obiter dicta could not fail 
to be treasured by his Companions, and whose actions were 
attentively watched. Thus, during the first century of Islam 
there was a multitude of living witnesses from whom traditions 
were collected, committed to memory, and orally handed down. 
Every tradition consists of two parts : the text {main) and the 
authority (sanad^ or isndd)^ e.g.^ the relater says, " I was told 
by who was informed by B y who had it from C, that the 
Prophet (God bless him !) and Abu Bakr and 'Umar used to 
open prayer with the words ' Praise to God, the Lord of all 
creatures.' " Written records and compilations were com- 
paratively rare in the early period. Ibn Ishaq (f 768 a.d.) 
composed the oldest extant Biography of the Prophet, which 
we do not possess, however, in its original shape 
Biographies of \^ ut on \y m the recension of Ibn Hisham 

Muhammad. J 

(f 833 a.d.). Two important and excellent 
works of the same kind are the Kitdbu 'l-Maghdzl ( c Book of 
the Wars') by Waqidi (f 822 a.d.) and the Kitdbu U-Tabaqdt 
al-Kabir ( c The Great Book of the Classes,' i.e., the different 
classes of Muhammad's Companions and those who came after 
them) by Ibn Sa'd (t 844 a.d.). Of miscellaneous traditions 
intended to serve the Faithful as a model and rule of life in 
every particular, and arranged in chapters according to the 

subject-matter, the most ancient and authoritative 
General coiiec- collections are those of Bukhan (t 870 a.d.) and 

tions. v . 

Muslim (t 874 a.d.), both of which bear the 
same title, viz., al-Sahlh y i The Genuine.' It only remains to 
speak of Commentaries on the Koran. Some passages were 
explained by Muhammad himself, but the real founder of 



THE TRADITIONS OF MUHAMMAD 145 



Koranic Exegesis was 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas, the Prophet's 
cousin. Although the writings of the early interpreters have 
entirely perished, the gist of their researches is 
ontS^oSn 5 emD0C hed in the great commentary of Taban (t 922 
a.d.), a man of encyclopaedic learning who 
absorbed the whole mass of tradition existing in his time. 
Subsequent commentaries are largely based on this colossal 
work, which has recently been published at Cairo in thirty 
volumes. That of Zamakhshari (t 1143 a.d.), which is 
entitled the Kashshdf^ and that of Baydawi (t 1286 a.d.) are 
the best known and most highly esteemed in the Muhammadan 
East. A work of wider scope is the Itqdn of Suyuti (t 1505 
a.d.), which takes a general survey of the Koranic sciences, 
and may be regarded as an introduction to the critical study 
of the Koran. 

While every impartial student will admit the justice of 
Ibn Qutayba's claim that no religion has such historical attesta- 
tions as Islam — laysa li-ummat tn mina U-umami 
Mosiem e tri asndd un ka-asnddihim 1 — he must at the same 
time cordially assent to the observation made by 
another Muhammadan : " In nothing do we see pious men 
more given to falsehood than in Tradition" (lam nara 
9 l-sdlihina fi shay iH akdhaba minhum fi * l-hadith). 2 Of this 
severe judgment the reader will find ample confirmation in the 
Second Part of Goldziher's Muhammedanische Studien.3 During 
the first century of Islam the forging of Traditions became a 
recognised political and religious weapon, of which all parties 
availed themselves. Even men of the strictest piety practised 
this species of fraud (tadlis)^ and maintained that the end 
justified the means. Their point of view is well expressed in 
the following words which are supposed to have been spoken 
by the Prophet : " You must compare the sayings attributed 

1 Quoted by Sprenger, loc. cit, p. i. 

2 Quoted by Noldeke in the Introduction to his Geschichtc des Qorans, 
p. 22. 3 See especially pp. 28-130. 

1 1 



146 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



to me with the Koran ; what agrees therewith is from me, 
whether I actually said it or no;" and again, "Whatever 
good saying has been said, I myself have said it." 1 As the 
result of such principles every new doctrine took the form of 
an Apostolic Hadith ; every sect and every system defended 
itself by an appeal to the authority of Muhammad. We may 
see how enormous was the number of false Traditions in circu- 
lation from the fact that when Bukhari (t 870 a.d.) drew up 
his collection entitled * The Genuine ' (al-Sahih\ he limited 
it to some 7,000, which he picked out of 600,000. 

The credibility of Tradition, so far as it concerns the life of 
the Prophet, cannot be discussed in this place. 2 The oldest 
and best biography, that of Ibn Ishaq, undoubtedly contains a 
great deal of fabulous matter, but his narrative appears to be 
honest and fairly authentic on the whole. 

If we accept the traditional chronology, Muhammad, son of 
'Abdullah and Amina, of the tribe of Quraysh, was born at 
Mecca on the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal, in the 

MuhaSmk Year of the E^phant (570-571 a.d.). His 
descent from Qusayy is shown by the following 

table : — 

Qusayy. 
'Abd Manaf. 



( Abd Shams. Hashim. 
Umayya. 'Abdu '1-Muttalib. 



'Abbas. 'Abdullah. Abu Talib. 
Muhammad. 

1 Muhamm. Studicn, Part II, p. 48 seq. 

2 The reader may consult Muir's Introduction to his Life of Mahomet, 
pp. 28-87. 



MUHAMMAD'S BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 147 



Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin 
nurse — Halima, a woman of the Banii Sa'd — so that until he 
was five years old he breathed the pure air and 

His childhood. J 1 

learned to speak the unadulterated language of 
the desert. One marvellous event which is said to have 
happened to him at this time may perhaps be founded on 
fact : — 



" He and his foster-brother " (so Halima relates) " were among the 
cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us 

Muhammad an( * cr * e d> ' My brother, the Qurayshite ! two men clad 
and the in white took him and laid him on his side and cleft 

two angels. hig fo e u y . anc j t h ey were stirring their hands in it.' 
When my husband and I went out to him we found him standing 
with his face turned pale, and on our asking, 'What ails thee, child ? ' 
he answered, ' Two men wearing white garments came to me and 
laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for something, 
I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my 
husband said to me, ' O Halima, I fear this lad has been smitten 
(usiba) ; so take him home to his family before it becomes evident.' 
When we restored him to his mother she said, ' What has brought 
thee, nurse ? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he should 
stay with thee.' I said, ' God has made him grow up, and I have 
done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so 
I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' ' Thy case is not thus,' 
said she ; ' tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told 
her. Then she said, ' Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the 
Devil ? ' I said, ' Yes.' ' Nay, by God,' she replied, ' the Devil 
cannot reach him ; my son hath a high destiny.' " 1 



Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, 
it is said, drew forth Muhammad's heart, cleansed it, and 
removed the black clot — i.e., the taint of original sin. 2 If 
these inventions have any basis at all beyond the desire to 
glorify the future Prophet, we must suppose that they refer 

1 Ibn Hisham, p. 105, 1. 9 sqq. 

2 This legend seems to have arisen out of a literal interpretation of 
Koran, xciv, 1, "Did we not open thy breast ?"— i.e., give thee comfort 
or enlightenment. 



148 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



to some kind of epileptic fit. At a later period he was 
subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous 
voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent 
down from heaven. 

'Abdullah had died before the birth of his son, and when, in 
his sixth year, Muhammad lost his mother also, the charge of 
the orphan was undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged 
'Abdu '1-Muttalib, and then by his uncle, Abu Talib, a poor 
but honourable man, who nobly fulfilled the duties of a 
guardian to the last hour of his life. Muhammad's small 
patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to herding 
sheep — a despised employment which usually fell to the lot 
of women or slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied 
Abu Talib on a trading expedition to Syria, in the course of 
which he is said to have encountered a Christian 

with the monk called Bahira, who discovered the Seal of 

monk Bahira. " 

Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed 
him as the promised apostle. Such anticipations deserve no 
credit whatever. The truth is that until Muhammad assumed 
the prophetic role he was merely an obscure Qurayshite ; and 
scarcely anything related of him anterior to that event can be 
deemed historical except his marriage to Khadija, an elderly 
widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was 
about twenty-five years of age. 

During the next fifteen years of his life Muhammad was 
externally a prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those 
around him by an habitual expression of thoughtful melan- 
choly. What was passing in his mind may be conjectured 
with some probability from his first utterances when he came 
forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has 
acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his 
countrymen. " Did not He find thee astray and lead thee 
aright?" (Kor. xciii, 7). When and how did the process of 
conversion begin ? These questions cannot be answered, but 
it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, on which 



THE HANIFS 149 

Muhammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was pre- 
ceded by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The idea 
of monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, who 
were particularly numerous in the Hijaz, and by several 
Christian sects of an ascetic character — e.g., the Sabians 1 
and the Rakusians. Furthermore, " Islamic tradition knows 
of a number, of religious thinkers before Muhammad who are 
described as Hamfs," 2 and of whom the best known are 
Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh : Zayd b. ( Amr 

TheHanlfs. n ~ J 9 J 

b. Nufayl, also of Quraysh ; and Umayya b. Abi 
'1-Salt of Thaqif. They formed no sect, as Sprenger imagined ; 
and more recent research has demonstrated the baselessness of 
the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic times a 
widely-spread religious movement which Muhammad organised, 
directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian pre- 
cursors, if they may be so called, were merely a few isolated 
individuals. We are told by Ibn Ishaq that Waraqa and 
Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, rejected idolatry 
and left their homes in order to seek the true religion of 
Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a Christian, 
Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to Christianity 
or to Judaism ; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating 
that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh 
of animals offered in sacrifice to idols ; he condemned the 
barbarous custom of burying female infants alive, and said, 

1 This name, which signifies 'Baptists,' was applied by the heathen 
Arabs to Muhammad and his followers, probably in consequence of the 
ceremonial ablutions which are incumbent upon every Moslem before the 
five daily prayers (see Wellhausen, Restc Arab. Held., p. 237). 

2 Sir Charles Lyall, The Words 1 Hamf and 1 Muslim,' f.R.A.S. for 
1903, p. 772. The original meaning of hamf is no longer traceable, but it 
may be connected with the Hebrew hdnef ' profane.' In the Koran it 
generally refers to the religion of Abraham, and sometimes appears to be 
nearly synonymous with Muslim. Further information concerning the 
Hanifs will be found in Sir Charles Lyall' s article cited above ; Sprenger, 
Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammed, vol. i, pp. 45-134 ; Wellhausen, 
Reste Arab. Held., p. 238 sqq. ; Gaetani, Annali dell' Islam, vol. i, 
pp. 181-192. 



ISO THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



" I worship the Lord of Abraham." 1 As regards Umayya b. 
Abi '1-Salt, according to the notice of him in the Aghani^ he 
had inspected and read the Holy Scriptures ; he wore sack- 
cloth as a mark of devotion, held wine to be unlawful, was 
inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the true 
religion. It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to 
the Arabs, and therefore when Muhammad appeared he 
envied and bitterly opposed him. 2 Umayya's verses, some 
of which have been translated in a former chapter,3 are 
chiefly on religious topics, and show many points of resem- 
blance with the doctrines set forth in the early Suras of the 
Koran. With one exception, all the Hanlfs whose names are 
recorded belonged to the Hijaz and the west of the Arabian 
peninsula. No doubt Muhammad, with whom most of them 
were contemporary, came under their influence, and he may 
have received his first stimulus from this quarter.4 While 
they, however, were concerned only about their own salvation, 
Muhammad, starting from the same position, advanced far 
beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas 
by which he was animated as in the tremendous force and 
enthusiasm of his appeal to the universal conscience of mankind. 

In his fortieth year, it is said, Muhammad began to dream 
dreams and see visions, and desire solitude above all things else. 

He withdrew to a cave on Mount Hira, near 
Mu vSo£? d ' s Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities (tahan- 
nuth). One night in the month of Ramadan s 
the Angel 6 appeared to him and said, "Read!" (iqra 1 ). He 

1 Ibn Hisham, p. 143, 1. 6 sqq. 

2 Aghdni, iii, 187, 1. 17 sqq. 3 See p. 69 supra. 

4 Tradition associates him especially with Waraqa, who was a cousin 
of his first wife, Khadija, and is said to have hailed him as a prophet 
while Muhammad himself was still hesitating (Ibn Hisham, p. 153, 
1. 14 sqq.). 

s This is the celebrated ' Night of Power ' (Laylatu 'l-Oadr) mentioned 
in the Koran, xcvii, I. 

6 The Holy Ghost (Ruhu'l-Quds), for whom in the Medina Suras Gabriel 
(Jibril) is substituted. 



THE FIRST REVELATION 



answered, "I am no reader" (md ana bi-qari™). 1 Then the 
Angel seized him with a strong grasp, saying, "Read !" and, 
as Muhammad still refused to obey, gripped him once more 
and spoke as follows : — 

THE SURA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI). 

(1) Read in the name of thy Lord 2 who created, 

(2) Who created Man of blood coagulated. 

(3) Read ! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, 

(4) Who taught by the Pen,3 

(5) Taught that which they knew not unto men. 

On hearing these words Muhammad returned, trembling, 
to Khadija and cried, " Wrap me up ! wrap me up ! " and 
remained covered until the terror passed away from him,4 
Another tradition relating to the same event makes it clear 

1 But another version (Ibn Hisham, p. 152, 1. 9 sqq.) represents Muhammad 
as replying to the Angel, "What am I to read ?" {md aqra'u or md dhd 
aqra'u). Professor Bevan has pointed out to me that the tradition in this 
form bears a curious resemblance, which can hardly be accidental, to the 
words of Isaiah xl. 6: "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What 
shall I cry ? " The question whether the Prophet could read and 
write is discussed by Noldeke {Geschichte des Qordns, p. 7 sqq.), who 
leaves it undecided. According to Noldeke {loc. ciL, p. 10), the 
epithet ummi, which is applied to Muhammad in the Koran, and is 
commonly rendered by ' illiterate,' does not signify that he was 
ignorant of reading and writing, but only that he was unacquainted with 
the ancient Scriptures ; cf. ' Gentile.' However this may be, it appears that 
he wished to pass for illiterate, with the object of confirming the belief in 
his inspiration : " Thou " (Muhammad) " didst not use to read any book 
before this ' (the Koran) " nor to write it with thy right hand; else the liars 
would have doubted (Koran, xxix, 47). 

2 The meaning of these words {iqra' bismi rabbika) is disputed. Others 
translate, " Preach in the name of thy Lord " (Noldeke), or " Proclaim the 
name of thy Lord " (Hirschfeld). I see no sufficient grounds for abandon- 
ing the traditional interpretation supported by verses 4 and 5. Muhammad 
dreamed that he was commanded to read the Word of God inscribed in 
the Heavenly Book which is the source of all Revelation. 

3 Others render, " who taught (the use of) the Pen." 

4 This account of Muhammad's earliest vision (Bukhari, ed. by Krehl, 
vol. iii, p. 380, 1. 2 sqq.) is derived from 'A'isha, his favourite wife, whom 
he married after the death of Khadija. 



152 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



that the revelation occurred in a dream. 1 "I awoke," said 
the Prophet, " and methought it was written in my heart." 
If we take into account the notions prevalent among the 
Arabs of that time on the subject of inspiration, 2 it will not 
appear surprising that Muhammad at first believed himself to 
be possessed, like a poet or soothsayer, by one of the spirits 
called collectively Jinn. Such was his anguish of mind that 
he even meditated suicide, but Khadija comforted and 
reassured him, and finally he gained the unalterable convic- 
tion that he was not a prey to demoniacal influences, but a 
prophet divinely inspired. For some time he received no 
further revelation.3 Then suddenly, as he afterwards related, 
he saw the Angel seated on a throne between earth and 
heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran into his house and bade them 
wrap his limbs in a warm garment (dithdr). While he lay 
thus the following verses were revealed : — 

THE SURA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV). 

(1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie ! 

(2) Arise and prophesy, 4 

(3) And thy Lord magnify, 

(4) And thy raiment purify, 

(5) And the abomination fly ! 3 

Muhammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely 
ordained mission to preach in public. His feelings of relief 
and thankfulness are expressed in several Suras of this period, 
e.g.— 

THE SURA OF THE MORNING (XCIII). 

(1) By the Morning bright 

(2) And the softly falling Night, 

(3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful 

in His sight. 



1 Ibn Hisham, p. 152, 1. 9 sqq. 2 See p. 72 supra. 

3 This interval is known as the Fatra. 4 Literally, 1 warn.' 

s ' The abomination ' (al-rujz) probably refers to idolatry. 



EARLY CONVERTS 



153 



(4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be 

light. 1 

(5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite. 

(6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's 

plight ? 

(7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright? 

(8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His 

might ? 

(9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not, 

(10) And the beggar turn away not, 

(11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord. 

According to his biographers, an interval of three years 
elapsed between the sending of Muhammad and his appearance 
as a public preacher of the faith that was in him. Naturally, 
he would first turn to his own family and friends, but it is 
difficult to accept the statement that he made no proselytes 
openly during so long a period. The contrary is asserted in an 
ancient tradition related by al-Zuhri (f 742 a.d.), where 
we read that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace 
Islam 2 both in private and public ; and that those who 
responded to his appeal were, for the most part, young men 
belonging to the poorer class.3 He found, however, some 

influential adherents. Besides Khadija, who was 
Moslems. tne ^ rst t0 believe, there were his cousin c Ali, 

his adopted son, Zayd b. Haritha, and, most im- 
portant of all, Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhafa, a leading merchant of 
the (3uraysh, universally respected and beloved for his integrity, 
wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Muhammad 
seems to have avoided everything calculated to offend the 
heathens, confining himself to moral and religious generalities, 

1 Literally, 11 The Last State shall be better for thee than the First," 
referring either to Muhammad's recompense in the next world or to the 
ultimate triumph of his cause in this world. 

2 Islam is a verbal noun formed from Aslama, which means ' to 
surrender ' and, in a religious sense, to surrender one's self to the will 
of God.' The participle, Muslim (Moslem), denotes one who thus sur- 
renders himself. 

3 Sprenger, Leben des Mohammad, vol. i, p. 356. 



154 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



so that many believed, and the Meccan aristocrats themselves 
regarded him with good-humoured toleration as a harmless 
oracle-monger. " Look ! n they said as he passed by, " there 
goes the man of the Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib who tells of 
heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity 

of God, to fulminate against idolatry, and to preach 
H0 Qira y y S °h. the the Resurrection of the dead, than his followers 

melted away in face of the bitter antagonism 
which these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw 
in the Ka'ba and its venerable cult the mainspring of their 
commercial prosperity, and were irritated by the Prophet's 
declaration that their ancestors were burning in hell-fire. 
The authority of Abu Talib secured the personal safety of 
Muhammad ; of the little band who remained faithful some 
were protected by the strong family feeling characteristic of old 
Arabian society, but many were poor and friendless ; and these, 
especially the slaves, whom the levelling ideas of Islam had 
attracted in large numbers, were subjected to cruel persecution. 1 
Nevertheless Muhammad continued to preach. "I will not 
forsake this cause" (thus he is said to have answered Abu 
Talib, who informed him of the threatening attitude of the 
Quraysh and begged him not to lay on him a greater burden 
than he could bear) " until God shall make it manifest or until 
I shall perish therein — not though they should set the sun on 
my right hand and the moon on my left ! " 2 But progress 

1 It must be remembered that this branch of Muhammadan tradition 
derives from the pietists of the first century after the Flight, who were 
profoundly dissatisfied with the reigning dynasty .(the Umaj'yads), and 
revenged themselves by painting the behaviour of the Meccan ancestors of 
the Umayyads towards Muhammad in the blackest colours possible. The 
facts tell another story. It is significant that hardly any case of real 
persecution is mentioned in the Koran. Muhammad was allowed to 
remain at Mecca and to carry on, during many years, a religious 
propaganda which his fellow-citizens, with few exceptions, regarded as 
detestable and dangerous. We may well wonder at the moderation of 
the Quraysh, which, however, was not so much deliberate policy as the 
result of their indifference to religion and of Muhammad's failure to make 
appreciable headway in Mecca, 2 Ibn Hisham, p. 168, 1. 9. sqq, 



FAILURE OF THE MISSION AT MECCA 155 



was slow and painful : the Meccans stood obstinately aloof, 
deriding both his prophetic authority and the Divine chastise- 
ment with which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they 
used every kind of pressure short of actual violence in order to 
seduce his followers, so that many recanted, and in the fifth 
year of his mission he saw himself driven to the necessity of 
commanding a general emigration to the Christian 
P A^i*iSa. t0 kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems would 
be received with open arms 1 and would be with- 
drawn from temptation, 2 About a hundred men and women 
went into exile, leaving their Prophet with a small party of 
staunch and devoted comrades to persevere in a struggle that 
was daily becoming more difficult. In a moment of weakness 
Temporary Muhammad resolved to attempt a compromise 
reC w?th h the° n w^h ms countrymen. One day, it is said, the 
Quraysh. cn j e f men of Mecca, assembled in a group beside 
the Ka'ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the city, 
when Muhammad appeared and, seating himself by them in 
a friendly manner, began to recite in their hearing the 53rd 
Sura of the Koran. When he came to the verses (19-20) — 

" Do ye see Al-Lat and Al-'Uzzd, and Manat, the third and last?" 

Satan prompted him to add : — 

"These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans), 
And verily their intercession is to be hoped for." 

The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this 
acknowledgment of their deities ; and as Muhammad wound 
up the Sura with the closing words — 

"Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him," 



1 At this time Muhammad believed the doctrines of Islam and 
Christianity to be essentially the same. 

2 Tabari, i, 1180, 8 sqq. Cf. Caetani, Annali dclV Islam, vol. i, 
p. 267 sqq. 



156 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord 
on the ground and worshipped. 1 But scarcely had Muhammad 
returned to his house when he repented of the sin into 
which he had fallen. He cancelled the idolatrous verses 
and revealed in their place those which now stand in the 
Koran — 

" Shall yours be the male and his the female? 2 
This were then an unjust division ! 
They are naught but names which ye and your fathers 
have named." 

We can easily comprehend why Ibn Hisham omits all 
mention of this episode from his Biography, and why the fact 
• ^ ) itself is denied by many Moslem theologians.3 
concession to The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his 

the idolaters. . . 111 

enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably 
no sudden lapse, as tradition represents, but a calculated 
endeavour to come to terms with the Quraysh ; and so far 
from being immediately annulled, the reconciliation seems 
to have lasted long enough for the news of it to reach the 
emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to 
Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, 
Muhammad felt keenly both his own disgrace and the public 
discredit. It speaks well for his sincerity that, as soon as 
he perceived any compromise with idolatry to be impossible — 
to be, in fact, a surrender of the great principle by which he 
was inspired — he frankly confessed his error and delusion. 

1 Muir, Life of Mahomet, vol. ii, p. 151. 

2 We have seen (p. 91 supra) that the heathen Arabs disliked female 
offspring, yet they called their three principal deities the daughters of 
Allah. 

3 It is related by Ibn Ishaq (Tabari, i, 1192, 4sqq.). In his learned work, 
A nnali del I' Islam, of which the first volume appeared in 1905, Prince Caetani 
impugns the authenticity of the tradition and criticises the narrative in 
detail (p. 279 sqq.), but his arguments do not touch the main question. 
As Muir says, " it is hardly possible to conceive how the tale, if not 
founded in truth, could ever have been invented." 



BACKSLIDING AND REPENTANCE 157 



Henceforth he " wages mortal strife with images in every 
shape" — there is no god but Allah. 

The further course of events which culminated in 
Muhammad's Flight to Medina may be sketched in a few 
words. Persecution now waxed hotter than ever, as the 
Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant 
refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of 
idolatry. The conversion of 'Umar b. al-Khattab, the future 
Caliph, a man of ' blood and iron,' gave the signal for open 
revolt. " The Moslems no longer concealed their worship 
within their own dwellings, but with conscious strength and 
defiant attitude assembled in companies about the Ka'ba, per- 
formed their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. 
Their courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the 
Quraysh." The latter retaliated by cutting off all relations 
with the Hashimites, who were pledged to defend their kins- 
man, whether they recognised him as a prophet or no. This 
ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter of the city, 
where for more than two years they endured the utmost 
privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Muhammad, 
and ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused 
it to be removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered 
a double bereavement — the death of his wife, 
of Khadija and Khadija, was followed by that of the noble Abu 
Talib, who, though he never accepted Islam, 
stood firm to the last in defence of his brother's son. Left 
alone to protect himself, Muframmad realised that he must take 
some decisive step. The situation was critical. Events had 
shown that he had nothing to hope and everything to fear from 
the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again and 
again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was 
now convinced that they would not and could not believe, 
since God in His inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to 
eternal damnation. Consequently he resolved on a bold and, 
according to Arab ways of thinking, abominable expedient, 



158 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen and seek aid from 
strangers. 1 Having vainly appealed to the inhabitants of 
Ta'if, he turned to Medina, where, among a population 
largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam 
might more readily take root and flourish than in the 
Holy City of Arabian heathendom. This time he was not 
disappointed. A strong party in Medina hailed him as the 
true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to defend 
him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622 a.d. the 
Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed 
northward. A few months later (September, 622) Muhammad 
himself, eluding the vigilance of the Quraysh, entered Medina 
in triumph amidst the crowds and acclamations due to a 
conqueror. 

This is the celebrated Flight or Hegira (properly Hijra) 
which marks the end of the Barbaric Age (al-Jdhi/iyya) and 
the beginning; of the Muhammadan Era. It also 

The Hijra or & & . * . 

FiighUoMedma marks a new epoch in the Prophet s history ; but 
before attempting to indicate the nature of the 
change it will be convenient, in order that we may form 
a juster conception of his character, to give some account of 
his early teaching and preaching as set forth in that portion of 
the Koran which was revealed at Mecca. 

1 The Meccan view of Muhammad's action may be gathered from the 
words uttered by Abu Jahl on the field of Badr — " O God, bring woe upon 
him who more than any of us hath severed the ties of kinship and 
dealt dishonourably ! " (Tabari, i, 1322, 1. 8 seq.). Alluding to the 
Moslems who abandoned their native city and fled with the Prophet to 
Medina, a Meccan poet exclaims (Ibn Hisham, p. 519, 11. 3-5) : — 

They (the Quraysh slain at Badr) fell in honour. They did not sell their 
kinsmen for strangers living in a far land and of remote lineage ; 

Unlike yon, who have made friends ofGhassdn (the people of Medina), taking 
them instead of us — 0, what a shameful deed ! 

Tis an impiety and a manifest crime and a cutting of all ties of blood : 
your iniquity therein is discerned by men of judgment and under- 
standing. 



THE FLIGHT TO MEDINA 159 



Koran (Our'an) is derived from the Arabic root qara'a^ 
1 to read,' and means < reading aloud ' or * chanting.' This 
term may be applied either to a single Revelation 

The Koran. , • , , • • i 

or to several recited together or, in its usual accep- 
tation, to the whole body of Revelations which are thought 
by Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God ; so 
that in quoting from the Koran they say qala 'lldhu, /.<>., 
' God said.' Each Revelation forms a separate Sura 
(chapter) 1 composed of verses of varying length which have 
no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as regards its 
external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon the 
Saj'f or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with such 
freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it 
was not in Muhammad's power to create a form that should 
be absolutely new, his choice lay between Saj* and poetry, the 
only forms of elevated style then known to the Arabs. He 
himself declared that he was no poet,3 and this is true in the 
sense that he may have lacked the technical accomplishment of 

verse-making. It must, however, be borne in 
wasMu^mmad mind that his disavowa i does not refer primarily 

to the poetic art,' but rather to the person and 
character of the poets themselves. He, the divinely inspired 
Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed their 
inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism 
which he was striving to overthrow. " And the poets do 
those follow who go astray ! Dost thou not see that they 
wander distraught in every vale ? and that they say that which 
they do not?" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). Muhammad was not 
of these ; although he was not so unlike them as he pretended. 
His kinship with the pagan Sha'ir is clearly shown, for example, 
in the 113th and 114th Suras, which are charms against magic 
and diablerie^ as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down 
destruction upon the head of his uncle, 'Abdu 'l-'Uzza, nick- 
named Abu Lahab (Father of Flame). 

1 Sura is properly a row of stones or bricks in a wall. 

2 See p. 74 supra, 3 Koran, lxix, 41. 



i6o THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



THE SURA OF ABU LAHAB (CXI). 

(1) Perish the hands of Abu Lahab and perish he ! 

(2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in 

fee. 

(3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be ! 

(4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she : 

(5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree. 

If, then, we must allow that Muhammad's contemporaries had 
some justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet 
against which he protested so vehemently, still less can his plea 
be accepted by the modern critic, whose verdict will be that 
the Koran is not poetical as a whole ; that it contains many 
pages of rhetoric and much undeniable prose ; but that, 
although Muhammad needed " heaven-sent moments for this 
skill," in the early Meccan Suras frequently, and fitfully else- 
where, his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts 
which could never have been the work of a mere rhetorician. 



" Muhammad's single aim in the Meccan Suras," says N61deke,"is to 
convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods to 

the One God. To whatever point the discourse is 
The sikas° an directed, this always remains the ground-thought ; but 

instead of seeking to convince the reason of his 
hearers by logical proofs, he employs the arts of rhetoric to 
work upon their minds through the imagination. Thus he glorifies 
God, describes His working in Nature and History, and ridicules 
on the other hand the impotence of the idols. Especially 
important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss of the pious 
and the torments of the wicked : these, particularly the latter, must 
be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the propagation of 
Islam, through the impression which they make on the imagination 
of simple men who have not been hardened, from their youth up, by 
similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks his heathen 
adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal punishment ; 
but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom assails the 
Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians scarcely 
ever." 1 



1 Noldeke, Geschichte des Qordns, p. 56. 



THE MECCA N StiRAS 161 



The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have 
already adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost 
unanimously held by European readers that it is obscure, tire- 
some, uninteresting ; a farrago of long-winded narratives and 
prosaic exhortations, quite unworthy to be named in the same 
breath with the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament. 
One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the volume, 
beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of 
genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in 
the short Suras placed at the end of the Koran that we must 
look for evidence of Muhammad's prophetic gift. These are the 
earliest of all ; in these the flame of inspiration burns purely 
and its natural force is not abated. The following versions, 
like those which have preceded, imitate the original form as 
closely, I think, as is possible in English. They cannot, of 
course, do more than faintly suggest the striking effect of the 
sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed 
for oral recitation, and it must be heard in order to be justly 
appraised. 

THE SURA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII). 

(1) When the Sky shall be severed, 

(2) And when the Stars shall be shivered, 

(3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be suffered, 

(4) And when the Graves shall be uncovered — 

(5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or delivered. 1 

(6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel, 

(7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did 

fairly build ? 

(8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed. 

(9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal ! 2 

(10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable, 

(11) Your deeds inscribing without fail: 3 



1 I.e., what it has done or left undone. 

2 The Last Judgment. 

3 Moslems believe that every man is attended by two Recording Angels 
who write down his good and evil actions. 

12 



162 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



(12) What ye do they know well. 

(13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell, 

(14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell, 

(15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal ; 

(16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel ! 

(17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of 

Ordeal ? 

(18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day 

of Ordeal ?— 

(19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another 

soul, but the command on that Day shall be with God 
alone. 

THE SURA OP THE SIGNS (LXXXV). 

(1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set, 

(2) By the Day that is promised, 

(3) By the Witness and the Witnessed : — 

(4) Cursed be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread 

(5) The fire with fuel fed, 

(6) When they sate by its head 

(7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped ; 1 

(8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, 

the Almighty, the Glorified, 

(9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He 

seeth every thing beside. 

(10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and 

repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of 
burning is prepared. 

(11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are 

Gardens beneath which rivers flow : this is the great 
Reward. 

(12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord. 

(13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead : 

(14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat : 

(15) The majestic Throne is His seat: 

(16) That he willeth He doeth indeed. 

(17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude 

(18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamud? 2 



1 This is generally supposed to refer to the persecution of the Christians 
of Najran by Dhu Nuwas (see p. 26 supra). Geiger takes it as an allusion 
to the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace (Daniel, ch. iii). 

2 See above, p. 3. 



THE MECCAN StiRAS 163 



(19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood, 

(20) But God encompasseth them about. 

(21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read, 

(22) On a Table inviolate. 1 

THE SURA OF THE SMITING (CI). 

(1) The Smiting ! What is the Smiting ? 

(2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the 

Smiting ? 

(3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scattered, 

(4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tattered. 

(5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend, 

(6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend. 

(7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend ? 

(8) Scorching Fire without end ! 

THE SURA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX). 

(1) Say : 'O Unbelievers, 

(2) I worship not that which ye worship, 

(3) And ye worship not that which I worship. 

(4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship, 

(5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship. 

(6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.' 

To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by Muhammad 
during the Meccan period : — 

1. There is no god but God. 
Mutiammad at 2. Muhammad is the Apostle of God, and the 
Koran is the Word of God revealed to His Apostle. 

3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, 
when every one shall be judged by his actions in the present life. 

4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wicked shall go 
down to Hell. 

Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little 
more in detail how each of them is stated and by what argu- 
ments it is enforced. The time had not yet come for drawing 

1 According to Muhammadan belief, the archetype of the Koran and of 
all other Revelations is written on the Guarded Table (al-Lai&'h al-Mahfuz) 
in heaven. 



1 64 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



the sword : Muhammad repeats again and again that he is only 
a warner (nadhir) invested with no authority to compel where 
he cannot persuade. 

i. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of 
Allah, but in ordinary circumstances neglected him in favour 

of their idols, so that, as Muhammad complains, 
The Go n d ty0f " When danger befalls you on the sea, the gods 

whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone ; 
yet when He brought you safe to land, ye turned your backs on 
Him, for Man is ungrateful." 1 They were strongly attached 
to the cult of the Ka'ba, not only by self-interest, but also by 
the more respectable motives of piety towards their ancestors 
and pride in their traditions. Muhammad himself regarded 
Allah as Lord of the Ka c ba, and called upon the Quraysh 
to worship him as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to 
do so on the ground that they were afraid lest the Arabs should 
rise against them and drive them forth from the land, he 
assured them that Allah was the author of all their prosperity 
(Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, however, is drawn 
from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create even a 
fly, contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine 
power and providence in the creation of the heavens and the 
earth and all living things. 2 

It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that 
Muhammad summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following 
emphatic formula : — 

THE SURA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).3 

(1) Say: 'God is One ; 

(2) God who liveth on ; 

(3) Without father and without son ; 

(4) And like to Him there is none !' 

1 Koran, xvii, 69. 

2 See, for example, the passages translated by Lane in his Selections 
from the Kur-dn (London, 1843), pp. 100-113. 

s Ikhlds means ' purifying one's self of belief in any god except Allah.' 



CARDINAL DOCTRINES 165 



2. We have seen that when Muhammed first appeared as 
a prophet he was thought by all except a very few to 

be majnun, i.e.^ possessed by a jinni y or genie, 
Mu ApSueof the if I may use a word which will send the reader 

back to his Arabian Nights, The heathen Arabs 
regarded such persons — soothsayers, diviners, and poets — with 
a certain respect ; and if Muhammad's 1 madness ' had taken a 
normal course, his claim to inspiration would have passed 
unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to oppose him was 
not disbelief in his inspiration — it mattered little to them 
whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of the jfinn — 
but the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their 
sentiments, threatened their institutions, and subverted the 
most cherished traditions of old Arabian life. But in order 
successfully to resist the propaganda for which he alleged a 
Divine warrant, they were obliged to meet him on his own 
ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at all, no 
Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a 
schooled madman," " an infatuated poet," and so forth ; and 
that his Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, 
was merely "old folks' tales" [asatiru 9 I-awwalin), or the 
invention of a poet or a sorcerer. " Is not he," they cried, " a 
man like ourselves, who wishes to domineer over us ? Let 
him show us a miracle, that we may believe." Muhammad 
could only reiterate his former assertions and warn the infidels 
that a terrible punishment was in store for them either in this 
world or the next. Time after time he compares himself to 
the ancient prophets — Noah, Abraham, Moses, and their 
successors — who are represented as employing exactly the 
same arguments and receiving the same answers as Muham- 
mad ; and bids his people hearken to him lest they utterly 
perish like the ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran 
is proved, he says, by the Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being 
Revelations of the One God, and therefore identical in 
substance. He is no mercenary soothsayer, he seeks no 



1 66 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



personal advantage : his mission is solely to preach. The 
demand for a miracle he could not satisfy except by pointing 
to his visions of the Angel and especially to the Koran itself, 
every verse of which was a distinct sign or miracle (dyat). 1 If 
he has forged it, why are his adversaries unable to produce any- 
thing similar ? " Say : i If men and genies united to bring the 
like of this Koran, they could not bring the like although they 
should back each other up 9 " (Kor. xvii, 90). 

3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre- 
islamic Arabia never rose beyond vague and barbarous super- 
stition, e.g., the fancy that the dead man's tomb 

Resurrection , , , , . ... , , r 

and was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a 

Retribution. , . , XT , . , , 

screeching owl. 2 No wonder, then, that the 
ideas of Resurrection and Retribution, which are enforced by 
threats and arguments on almost every page of the Koran, 
appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous and 
incredible. " Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live ? " 
said one of their poets. " How can there be life for the sadd 
and the hdma ? Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt 
thou revive me when my bones are rotten f " 3 God provided His 
Apostle with a ready answer to these gibes : " Say : c He shall 
revive them who produced them at first, for He knoweth every 

1 The Prophet's confession of his inability to perform miracles did not 
deter his followers from inventing them after his death. Thus it was said 
that he caused the infidels to see "the moon cloven asunder" (Koran, 
liv, 1), though, as is plain from the context, these words refer to one of 
the signs of the Day of Judgment. 

2 I take this opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a most 
interesting article by my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, 
entitled The Beliefs of Early Mohammedans respecting a Future Existence 
[Journal of Theological Studies, October, 1904, p. 20 sqq.), where the 
whole subject is fully discussed. 

3 Shaddad b. al-Aswad al-Laythi, quoted in the Risdlatu 'l-Ghufrdn of 
Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri (see my article in the J.R.A.S. for 1902, pp. 94 and 
818) ; cf Ibn Hisham, p. 530, last line. Ibn (Abi) Kabsha was a nickname 
derisively applied to Muhammad. Sadd and hdma refer to the death-bird 
which was popularly supposed to utter its shriek from the skull [hdma) of 
the dead, and both words may be rendered by ' soul ' or ' wraith.' 



CONCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE LIFE 167 



creation " (Kor. xxxvi, 79). This topic is eloquently illustrated, 
but Muhammad's hearers were probably less impressed by the 
creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man 
than by the awful examples, to which reference has been 
made, of His destructive power as manifested in History. To 
Muhammad himself, at the outset of his mission, it seemed an 
appalling certainty that he must one day stand before God and 
render an account ; the overmastering sense of his own re- 
sponsibility goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his 
countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, 
with strength to endure calumny and persecution. As Noldeke 
has remarked, the grandest Suras of the whole Koran are those 
in which Muhammad describes how all Nature trembles and 
quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It is as 
though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains 
crumbling to dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in 
wild confusion." 1 Suras lxxxii and ci, which have been 
translated above, are specimens of the true prophetic style. 2 

4. There is nothing spiritual in Muhammad's pictures of 
Heaven and Hell. His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure- 
garden, where the pious repose in cool shades, 
Muhammadan quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with 
the Houris (Hur), lovely dark-eyed damsels like 
pearls hidden in their shells.3 This was admirably calculated 
to allure his hearers by reminding them of one of their chief 
enjoyments — the gay drinking parties which occasionally 
broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which are often 
described in Pre-islamic poetry ; indeed, it is highly probable 
that Muhammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this 
source. The gross and sensual character of the Muhammadan 
Afterworld is commonly thought to betray a particular weak- 

1 Noldeke, Geschichte des Oordns, p. 78. 

2 Cf. also Koran, xviii, 45-47 ; xx, 102 sqq. ; xxxix, 67 sqq. ; lxix, 13-37. 

3 The famous freethinker, Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri, has cleverly satirised 
Muhammadan notions on this subject in his Risdlatu 'l-Ghufrdn {J.RA.S. 
for October, 1900, p. 637 sqq.). 



168 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



ness of the Prophet or is charged to the Arabs in general, but 
as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real explanation 
seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution was 
absolutely new both to Muhammad himself and to the public 
which he addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional 
associations, and the Arabic language furnished no religious 
terminology for the expression of such ideas ; if they were to 
be made comprehensible at all, it could only be done by means 
of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from earthly 
affairs." 1 

Muhammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, 
vigils, and other austerities entered largely into his religion, 
endowing it with the formal and ascetic character 
which it retains to the present day. Prayer was 
introduced soon after the first Revelations : in one of the oldest 
(Sura lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "Prosperous is he who purifies 
himself (or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and 
prays." Although the five daily prayers obligatory upon every 
true believer are nowhere mentioned in the Koran, the opening 
chapter (Suratu H-Fatiha\ which answers to our Lord's 
Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, and is seldom 
omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since the 
Fatiha probably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may 
find a place here. 

THE OPENING SURA (I). 

(1) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye ! 

(2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be, 

(3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye, 

(4) The King of Judgment Day ! 

(5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray. 

(6) Lead us in the right way, 

(7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against 

whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not 
astray ! 



1 Journal of Theological Studies for October, 1904, p. 22. 



MUHAMMAD'S ASCENSION 169 



About the same time, shortly before the Flight, Muhammad 
dreamed that he was transported from the Ka'ba to the Temple 
at Jerusalem, and thence up to the seventh heaven, 
joume^fnd The former part of the vision is indicated in the 
ofM^Sad. Koran (xvii, 1) : " Glory to him who took His 
servant a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque 
to the Farthest Mosque^ the precinct whereof we have blessed^ 
to show him of our signs ! " Tradition has wondrously em- 
bellished the Mi l rdj y by which name the Ascension of the 
Prophet is generally known throughout the East ; while in 
Persia and Turkey it has long been a favourite theme for the 
mystic and the poet. According to the popular belief, which 
is also held by the majority of Moslem divines, Muhammad 
was transported in the body to his journey's end, but he 
himself never countenanced this literal interpretation, though 
it seems to have been current in Mecca, and we are told that 
it caused some of his incredulous followers to abandon their 
faith. 

Possessed and inspired by the highest idea of which man 
is capable, fearlessly preaching the truth revealed to him, 
leading almost alone what long seemed to be a forlorn hope 
against the impregnable stronghold of superstition, yet facing 
these tremendous odds with a calm resolution which yielded 
nothing to ridicule or danger, but defied his enemies to do their 
worst — Muhammad in the early part of his career presents a 
spectacle of grandeur which cannot fail to win our sympathy 

and admiration. At Medina, whither we must 
MU M a Sa dat now return, he appears in a far less favourable 

light : the days of pure religious enthusiasm have 
passed away for ever, and the Prophet is overshadowed by the 
Statesman. The Flight was undoubtedly essential to the 
establishment of Islam. It was necessary that Muhammad 
should cut himself off from his own people in order that he 
might found a community in which not blood but religion 
formed the sole bond that was recognised. This task he 



170 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



accomplished with consummate sagacity and skill, but the 
unscrupulous methods in which he indulged have left a dark 
stain on his reputation. As the supreme head of the Moslem 
theocracy both in spiritual and temporal matters — for Islam 
allows no distinction between Church and State — he exercised 
all the authority of a mediaeval Pope, and he did not hesitate 
to justify by Divine mandate acts of which the heathen Arabs, 
cruel and treacherous as they were, would have been ashamed 
to be guilty. We need not inquire how much was due to 
self-deception and how much to pious fraud. Although his 
vices, which were those of his age and country, may be con- 
doned or at least palliated, it revolts us to see him introducing 
God Almighty in the role of devil's advocate. 

The conditions prevailing at Medina were singularly adapted 
to his design. Ever since the famous battle of Bu'ath (about 
615 a.d.), in which the Banu Aws, with the help 
pred?sp d os n ed to °f tne i r Jewish allies, the Banu Qurayza and the 
Muhammad as Banu Nadir, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the 
Le pro a phet nd Banu Khazraj, the city had been divided into two 
hostile camps ; and if peace had hitherto been 
preserved, it was only because both factions were too exhausted 
to renew the struggle. Wearied and distracted by earthly 
calamities, men's minds willingly admit the consolations of 
religion. We find examples of this tendency at Medina even 
before the Flight. Abu 'Amir, whose ascetic life gained for 
him the title of ' The Monk ' (a/-Rdhib) y is numbered among 
the Hanifs. 1 He fought in the ranks of the Quraysh at 
Uhud, and finally went to Syria, where he died an outlaw. 
Another Pre-islamic monotheist of Medina, Abu Qays b. AM 
Anas, is said to have turned Moslem in his old age. 2 

"The inhabitants of Medina had no material interest in idol- 
worship and no sanctuary to guard. Through uninterrupted 
contact with the Jews of the city and neighbourhood, as also 
with the Christian tribes settled in the extreme north of Arabia on 



Ibn Hisham, p. 411, 1. 6 sqq. 2 Ibid., p. 347. 



FRIENDS AND FOES AT MED/NA 171 



the confines of the Byzantine Empire, they had learned, as it were 
instinctively, to despise their inherited belief in idols and to respect 
the far nobler and purer faith in a single God ; and lastly, they had 
become accustomed to the idea of a Divine revelation by means of a 
special scripture of supernatural origin, like the Pentateuch and the 
Gospel. From a religious standpoint paganism in Medina offered 
no resistance to Islam : as a faith, it was dead before it was attacked ; 
none defended it, none mourned its disappearance. The pagan 
opposition to Muhammad's work as a reformer was entirely political, 
and proceeded from those who wished to preserve the anarchy of 
the old heathen life, and who disliked the dictatorial rule of 
Muhammad." 1 

There were in Medina four principal parties, consisting of 
those who either warmly supported or actively opposed the 
Prophet, or who adopted a relatively neutral 
^iedfna in attitude, viz., the Refugees {Muhajirun), the 
Helpers [Jnsdr) y the Hypocrites (Mundjiqun), 
and the Jews (Tahud). 

The Refugees were those Moslems who left their homes 
at Mecca and accompanied the Prophet in his Flight (Hijra) 
— whence their name, Muhajirun — to Medina in 
the year 622. Inasmuch as they had lost every- 
thing except the hope of victory and vengeance, he could 
count upon their fanatical devotion to himself. 

The Helpers were those inhabitants of Medina who had 
accepted Islam and pledged themselves to protect Muhammad 
in case of attack. Together with the Refugees 

The Helpers. . , r . , , , , 

they constituted a formidable and ever-increasing 
body of true believers, the first champions of the Church 
militant. 

" Many citizens of Medina, however, were not so well disposed 
towards Muhammad, and neither acknowledged him as a Prophet 
The Hypocrites n0r wou ^ submit to him as their Ruler ; but since 
they durst not come forward against him openly on 
account of the multitude of his enthusiastic adherents, they met him 
with a passive resistance which more than once thwarted his plans : 



1 L. Caetani, Annali delV Islam, vol. i, p. 389. 



172 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



their influence was so great that he, on his part, did not venture to 
take decisive measures against them, and sometimes even found it 
necessary to give way." 1 

These are the Hypocrites whom Muhammad describes in 
the following verses of the Koran : — 

THE SURA OF THE HEIFER (II). 

(7) And there are those among men who say, ( We believe in God 

and in the Last Day ' ; but they do not believe. 

(8) They would deceive God and those who do believe ; but they 

deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. 

(9) In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more 

sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied. 2 

Their leader, 'Abdullah b. Ubayy, an able man but of weak 
character, was no match for Muhammad, whom he and his 
partisans only irritated, without ever becoming really 
dangerous. 

The Jews, on the other hand, gave the Prophet serious 
trouble. At first he cherished high hopes that they would 

Th accept the new Revelation which he brought to 

them, and which he maintained to be the original 
Word of God as it was formerly revealed to Abraham and 
Moses ; but when the Jews, perceiving the absurdity of this 
idea, plied him with all sorts of questions and made merry 
over his ignorance, Muhammad, keenly alive to the damaging 
effect of the criticism to which he had exposed himself, turned 
upon his tormentors, and roundly accused them of having 
falsified and corrupted their Holy Books. Henceforth he 
pursued them with a deadly hatred against which their 
political disunion rendered them helpless. A few sought 
refuge in Islam ; the rest were either slaughtered or driven 
into exile. 

It is impossible to detail here the successive steps by which 

1 Noldeke, Geschichte des Qordns, p, 122. 

2 Translated by E. H. Palmer. 



MUHAMMAD AS LEGISLATOR 173 



Muhammad in the course of a few years overcame all 
opposition and established the supremacy of Islam from 
one end of Arabia to the other. I shall notice the out- 
standing events very briefly in order to make room for 
matters which are more nearly connected with the subject 
of this History. 

Muhammad's first care was to reconcile the desperate 
factions within the city and to introduce law and order 
among the heterogeneous elements which have 
the Moslem been described. " He drew up in writing a 
charter between the Refugees and the Helpers, 
in which charter he embodied a covenant with the Jews, 
confirming them in the exercise of their religion and in the 
possession of their properties, imposing upon them certain 
obligations, and granting to them certain rights." 1 This 
remarkable document is extant in Ibn Hisham's Biography of 
Muhammad, pp. 341-344. Its contents have been analysed 
in masterly fashion by Wellhausen, 2 who observes with justice 
that it was no solemn covenant, accepted and duly ratified by 
representatives of the parties concerned, but merely a decree 
of Muhammad based upon conditions already existing which 
had developed since his arrival in Medina. At the same time 
no one can study it without being impressed by the political 
genius of its author. Ostensibly a cautious and tactful reform, 
it was in reality a revolution. Muhammad durst not strike 
openly at the independence of the tribes, but he destroyed it, 
in effect, by shifting the centre of power from the tribe to the 
community ; and although the community included Jews and 
pagans as well as Moslems, he fully recognised, what his 
opponents failed to foresee, that the Moslems were the active, 
and must soon be the predominant, partners in the newly 
founded State. 

1 Ibn Hisham, p. 341, 1. 5. 

2 Muhammad' s Gcmeindeordnung von Medina in Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, 
Heft IV, p. 67 sqq. 



174 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



All was now ripe for the inevitable struggle with the 
Quraysh, and God revealed to His Apostle several verses of 
the Koran in which the Faithful are commanded to wage a 
Holy War against them : " Permission is given to those who 
fight because they have been wronged, — and verily God to help 
them has the might , — who have been driven forth from their 
homes undeservedly, only for that they said, c Our Lord is 
God'" (xxii, 40-41). "Kill them wherever ye find them, 
and drive them out from whence they drive you out" (ii, 187). 
" Fight them that there be no sedition and that the religion 
may be God's" (ii, 189). In January, 624 a.d., the Moslems, 
some three hundred strong, won a glorious victory at Badr 
over a greatly superior force which had marched 
january°6^ a A r D. out from Mecca to relieve a rich caravan that 
Muhammad threatened to cut off. The Quraysh 
fought bravely, but were borne down by the irresistible onset 
of men who had learned discipline in the mosque and looked 
upon death as a sure passport to Paradise. Of the Moslems 
only fourteen fell ; the Quraysh lost forty-nine killed and 
about the same number of prisoners. But the importance of 
Muhammad's success cannot be measured by the material 
damage which he inflicted. Considering the momentous issues 
involved, we must allow that Badr, like Marathon, is one of 
the greatest and most memorable battles in all history. Here, 
at last, was the miracle which the Prophet's enemies demanded 
of him : " Te have had a sign in the two parties who met ; 
one party fighting in the way of God, the other misbelieving ; 
these saw twice the same number as themselves to the eye- 
sight, for God aids with His help those whom He pleases. 
Verily in that is a lesson for those who have perception 9 
(Kor. iii, 11). And again, " Ye slew them not, but God slew 
them" (Kor. viii, 17). The victory of Badr turned all eyes 
upon Muhammad. However little the Arabs cared for his 
religion, they could not but respect the man who had humbled 
the lords of Mecca. He was now a power in the land — 



TRIUMPH OF THE PROPHET 175 



" Muhammad, King of the Hijaz." 1 In Medina his cause 
flourished mightily. The zealots were confirmed in their 
faith, the waverers convinced, the disaffected overawed. He 
sustained a serious, though temporary, check in the following 
year at Uhud, where a Moslem army was routed 
Bat 625 A. £- ud ' b 7 the Quraysh under Abii Sufyan, but the 
victors were satisfied with having taken vengeance 
for Badr and made no attempt to follow up their advantage ; 
while Muhammad, never resting on his laurels, never losing 
sight of the goal, proceeded with remorseless calculation to 
crush his adversaries one after the other, until in January, 
630 a.d., the Meccans themselves, seeing the futility of 
further resistance, opened their gates to the 
Mecca^oVD P ro P net and acknowledged the omnipotence of 
Allah. The submission of the Holy City left 
Muhammad without a rival in Arabia. His work was almost 
done. Deputations from the Bedouin tribes poured into 
Medina, offering allegiance to the conqueror of the Quraysh, 
and reluctantly subscribing to a religion in which they saw 
nothing so agreeable as the prospect of plundering its enemies. 

Muhammad died, after a brief illness, on the 8th of June, 
632 a.d. He was succeeded as head of the Moslem com- 
munity by his old friend and ever-loyal supporter, 
Muhammad, Abu Bakr, who thus became the first Khalifa^ or 
Caliph. It only remains to take up our survey of 
the Koran, which we have carried down to the close of the 
Meccan period, and to indicate the character and contents of 
the Revelation during the subsequent decade. 

The Medina Suras faithfully reflect the marvellous change 
in Muhammad's fortunes, which began with his flight from 
Mecca. He was now recognised as the Prophet and Apostle 
of God, but this recognition made him an earthly potentate 
and turned his religious activity into secular channels. One 
1 Ibn Hisham, p. 763, 1. 12, 



176 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



who united in himself the parts of prince, legislator, politician, 
diplomatist, and general may be excused if he sometimes neg- 
lected the Divine injunction to arise and preach, 
Th sdri dina or at an y rate i nter P rete d it in a sense very dif- 
ferent from that which he formerly attached to it. 
The Revelations of this time deal, to a large extent, with 
matters of legal, social, and political interest ; they promulgate 
religious ordinances — e.g. y fasting, alms-giving, and pilgrimage — 
expound the laws of marriage and divorce, and comment upon 
the news of the day ; often they serve as bulletins or mani- 
festoes in which Muhammad justifies what he has done, urges 
the Moslems to fight and rebukes the laggards, moralises on a 
victory or defeat, proclaims a truce, and says, in short, whatever 
the occasion seems to require. Instead of the Meccan idolaters, 
his opponents in Medina — the Jews and Hypocrites — have 
become the great rocks of offence ; the Jews especially are 
denounced in long passages as a stiff-necked generation who 
never hearkened to their own prophets of old. However 
valuable historically, the Medina Suras do not attract the 
literary reader. In their flat and tedious style they resemble 
those of the later Meccan period. Now and again the ashes 
burst into flame, though such moments of splendour are 
increasingly rare, as in the famous ' Throne-verse ' {Ayatu 
U-Kursi) :— 

"God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent. 
Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens 

and what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes 
Th ?veree ,0ne " save His permission ? He knows what 

is before them and what behind them, and they com- 
prehend not aught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. His 
throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him not 
to guard them both, for He is high and grand." 1 

The Islam which Muhammad brought with him to Medina 
was almost entirely derived by oral tradition from Christianity 

1 Koran, ii, 256, translated by E. H. Palmer. 



THE MEDINA S&RAS 177 



and Judaism, and just for this reason it made little impression 
on the heathen Arabs, whose religious ideas were generally 
of the most primitive kind. Notwithstanding its foreign 
character and the absence of anything which appealed to 
Arabian national sentiment, it spread rapidly in Medina, 
where, as we have seen, the soil was already prepared for it ; 
but one may well doubt whether it could have extended its 
sway over the peninsula unless the course of events had deter- 
mined Muhammad to associate the strange doctrines of Islam 
with the ancient heathen sanctuary at Mecca, the Ka'ba, 
which was held in universal veneration by the Arabs and 
formed the centre of a worship that raised no difficulties in 

their minds. Before he had lived many months 
Th tion ofTsiam" in Medma tne Prophet realised that his hope of 

converting the Jews was doomed to disappoint- 
ment. Accordingly he instructed his followers that they 
should no longer turn their faces in prayer towards the 
Temple at Jerusalem, as they had been accustomed to do 
since the Flight, but towards the Ka'ba ; while, a year or two 
later, he incorporated in Islam the superstitious ceremonies of 
the pilgrimage, which were represented as having been origi- 
nally prescribed to Abraham, the legendary founder of the 
Ka'ba, whose religion he professed to restore. 

These concessions, however, were far from sufficient to 
reconcile the free-living and free-thinking people of the 
desert to a religion which restrained their pleasures, forced 
them to pay taxes and perform prayers, and stamped with the 
name of barbarism all the virtues they held most dear. The 
teaching of Islam ran directly counter to the ideals and 
traditions of heathendom, and, as Goldziher has remarked, 
its originality lies not in its doctrines, which are Jewish and 
Christian, but in the fact that it was Muhammad who first 
maintained these doctrines with persistent energy against the 
Arabian view of life. 1 While we must refer the reader to Dr. 
1 Muhamm. Studien, Part I, p. 12. 
13 



178 THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



Goldziher's illuminating pages for a full discussion of the con- 
flict between the new Religion (Din) and the old Virtue 

{Muruwwa\ it will not be amiss to summarise the 
A ?skIS£a" chief points at which they clashed with each 

other. 1 In the first place, the fundamental idea of 
Islam was foreign and unintelligible to the Bedouins. " It 
was not the destruction of their idols that they opposed so 
much as the spirit of devotion which it was sought to implant 
in them : the determination of their whole lives by the 
thought of God and of His pre-ordaining and retributive 
omnipotence, the prayers and fasts, the renouncement of 
coveted pleasures, and the sacrifice of money and property 
which was demanded of them in God's name." In spite of 
the saying, La dina ilia bi 'l-muruwwati ("There is no 
religion without virtue"), the Bedouin who accepted Islam 
had to unlearn the greater part of his unwritten moral code. 
As a pious Moslem he must return good for evil, forgive his 
enemy, and find balm for his wounded feelings in the assurance 
of being admitted to Paradise (Kor. iii, 128). Again, the 
social organisation of the heathen Arabs was based on the 
tribe, whereas that of Islam rested on the equality and 
fraternity of all believers. The religious bond cancelled all 
distinctions of rank and pedigree ; it did away, theoretically, 
with clannish feuds, contests for honour, pride of race — things 
that lay at the very root of Arabian chivalry. " Lo" cried 
Muhammad, " the noblest of you in the sight of God is he who 
most doth fear Him" (Kor. xlix, 13). Against such doctrine 
the conservative and material instincts of the desert people 
rose in revolt ; and although they became Moslems en masse, 
the majority of them neither believed in Islam nor knew what 
it meant. Often their motives were frankly utilitarian : they 
expected that Islam would bring them luck ; and so long as 
they were sound in body, and their mares had fine foals, and 

1 See Goldziher's introductory chapter entitled Muruwwa und Din 
{ibid., pp. 1-39). 



THE ARABS AND ISLAM 179 



their wives bore well-formed sons, and their wealth and herds 
multiplied, they said, " We have been blessed ever since we 
adopted this religion," and were content ; but if things 
went ill they blamed Islam and turned their backs on it. 1 
That these men were capable of religious zeal is amply 
proved by the triumphs which they won a short time after- 
wards over the disciplined armies of two mighty empires ; but 
what chiefly inspired them, apart from love of booty, was 
the conviction, born of success, that Allah was fighting on 
their side. 

We have sketched, however barely and imperfectly, the 
progress of Islam from Muhammad's first appearance as a 
preacher to the day of his death. In these twenty years the 
seeds were sown of almost every development which occurs 
in the political and intellectual history of the Arabs during the 
ages to come. More than any man that has ever lived, 
Muhammad shaped the destinies of his people ; and though 
they left him far behind as they moved along the path of civi- 
lisation, they still looked back to him for guidance and autho- 
rity at each step. This is not the place to attempt an estimate 
of his character, which has been so diversely judged. Per- 
sonally, I .feel convinced that he was neither a shameless 
impostor nor a neurotic degenerate nor a socialistic reformer, 
but in the beginning, at all events, a sincere religious enthu- 
siast, as truly inspired as any prophet of the Old Testament. 

"We find in him," writes De Goeje, "that sober understanding 
which distinguished his fellow-tribesmen : dignity, tact, and equi- 
librium ; qualities which are seldom found in people 
SifhaSSad. of morbid constitution : self-control in no small 
degree. Circumstances changed him from a Prophet 
to a Legislator and a Ruler, but for himself he sought nothing beyond 
the acknowledgment that he was Allah's Apostle, since this acknow- 



1 Baydawi on Koran, xxii, II. 



i8o THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 



ledgment includes the whole of Islam. He was excitable, like 
every true Arab, and in the spiritual struggle which preceded his 
call this quality was stimulated to an extent that alarmed even him- 
self ; but that does not make him a visionary. He defends himself, 
by the most solemn asseveration, against the charge that what 
he had seen was an illusion of the senses. Why should not we 
believe him ? " 1 



1 Die Berufung Mohammed's, by M. J. de Goeje in Ndldeke-Festschrift 
(Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 5. 



i 



CHAPTER V 



THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 

The Caliphate — i.e. y the period of the Caliphs or Successors of 
Muhammad — extends over six centuries and a quarter (632- 
1258 a.d.), and falls into three clearly- marked divisions of 
very unequal length and diverse character. 

The first division begins with the election of Abu Bakr, the 
first Caliph, in 632, and comes to an end with the assassina- 
tion of 'AH, the Prophet's son-in-law and fourth 

The Orthodox • rr tl c r l i 

caliphate (632- successor, in 001. These four Caliphs are known 
661 a.d). as Orthodox (al-Rdshidim)) because they trod 
faithfully in the footsteps of the Prophet and ruled after his 
example in the holy city of Medina, with the assistance of his 
leading Companions, who constituted an informal Senate. 

The second division includes the Caliphs of the family of 
Umayya, from the accession of Mu'awiya in 66 1 to the great 
battle of the Zab in 750, when Marwan II, the 
iJaiiph™e a (66 a i- last of his line, was defeated by the 'Abbasids, 
7 oa.d.). claimed the Caliphate as next of kin to the 

Prophet. According to Moslem notions the Umayyads were 
kings by right, Caliphs only by courtesy. They had, as we 
shall see, no spiritual title, and little enough religion of any 
sort. This dynasty, which had been raised and was upheld by 
the Syrian Arabs, transferred the seat of government from 

Medina to Damascus. * 

181 



1 82 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE 



The third division is by far the longest and most important. 
Starting in 750 with the accession of Abu 'l-'Abbas al-Saffah, 
it presents an unbroken series of thirty-seven 
caliphate (750- Caliphs of the same House, and culminates, after 
1258 a.d.) ^ e lapse of half a millennium, in the sack of 
Baghdad, their magnificent capital, by the Mongol Hulagu 
(January, 1258). The 'Abbasids were no less despotic than 
the Umayyads, but in a more enlightened fashion ; for, while 
the latter had been purely Arab in feeling, the 'Abbasids 
owed their throne to the Persian nationalists, and were 
imbued with Persian ideas, which introduced a new and 
fruitful element into Moslem civilisation. 

From our special point of view the Orthodox and Umayyad 
Caliphates, which form the subject of the present chapter, are 
somewhat barren. The simple life of the pagan Arabs found 
full expression in their poetry. The many-sided life of the 
Moslems under 'Abbasid rule may be studied in a copious 
literature which exhibits all the characteristics of the age ; but 
of contemporary documents illustrating the intel- 
E iiterSmS iC Actual history of the early Islamic period com- 
paratively little has been preserved, and that little, 
being for the most part anti-Islamic in tendency, gives only 
meagre information concerning what excites interest beyond 
anything else — the religious movement, the rise of theology, 
and the origin of those great parties and sects which emerge, 
at various stages of development, in later literature. 

Since the Moslem Church and State are essentially one, 
it is impossible to treat of politics apart from religion, nor can 
religious phenomena be understood without con- 
^andsta^ tinual reference to political events. The follow- 
ing brief sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate will 
show how completely this unity was realised, and what far- 
reaching consequences it had. 

That Muhammad left no son was perhaps of less moment 
than his neglect or refusal to nominate a successor. The 



ABti BAKR 



183 



Arabs were unfamiliar with the hereditary descent of kingly 
power, while the idea had not yet dawned of a Divine right 
resident in the Prophet's family. It was thoroughly in accord 
with Arabian practice that the Moslem community should 
elect its own leader, just as in heathen days the tribe chose its 
own chief. The likeliest men — all three belonged to Quraysh 
— were Abu Bakr, whose daughter 'A'isha had been Muham- 
mad's favourite wife, 'Umar b. al-Khattab, and All, Abu 
Talib's son and Fatima's husband, who was thus connected 
with the Prophet by blood as well as by marriage. Abu Bakr 
was the eldest, he was supported by 'Umar, and 
elected caiiph on him the choice ultimately fell, though not 

(June, 632 A.D.). . , . 1 ii- • r ' c a 

without an ominous ebullition or party strife. A 
man of simple tastes and unassuming demeanour, he had earned 
the name al-Stddiq, i.e., the True, by his unquestioning faith 
in the Prophet ; naturally gentle and merciful, he stood firm 
when the cause of Islam was at stake, and crushed with iron 
hand the revolt which on the news of Muhammad's death 
spread like wildfire through Arabia. False prophets arose, and 
the Bedouins rallied round them, eager to throw off the burden 

of tithes and prayers. In the centre of the penin- 
Musayiimathe sula> the Banu jjanlfa were led to battle by 

Musaylima, who imitated the early style of the 
Koran with ludicrous effect, if we may judge from the sayings 
ascribed to him, e.g., " The elephant, what is the elephant, and 
who shall tell you what is the elephant ? He has a poor tail, 
and a long trunk: and is a trifling part of the creations of thy 
God." Moslem tradition calls him the Liar (al-Kadhdhdb), and 
represents him as an obscene miracle-monger, which can hardly 
be the whole truth. It is possible that he got some of his 
doctrines from Christianity, as Professor Margoliouth has sug- 
gested, 1 but we know too little about them to arrive at any 
conclusion. After a desperate struggle Musaylima was defeated 

1 On the Origin and Import of the Names Muslim and Hanif [J.R.A.S. 
for 1903, p. 491). 



1 84 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE 



and slain by 'the Sword of Allah,' Khalid b. Walid. The 
Moslem arms were everywhere victorious. Arabia bowed 
in sullen submission. 

Although Muir and other biographers of Muhammad have 
argued that Islam was originally designed for the Arabs alone, 
and made no claim to universal acceptance, their 
Isl rdigion° lld " assertion is contradicted by the unequivocal testi- 
mony of the Koran itself. In one of the oldest 
Revelations (lxviii, 51-52), we read : " It wanteth little but that 
the unbelievers dash thee to the ground with their looks (of anger) 
when they hear the W arning (i.e., the Koran) ; and they say, 
c He is assuredly mad ' : but it ( the Koran) is no other than a 
Warning unto all creatures" (dhikr un li 'l-'dlamin)* The 
time had now come when this splendid dream was to be, in 
large measure, fulfilled. The great wars of 

Conquest of • • i i i t» 1 > • 

Persia and Syria conquest were inspired by the rropnet s mis- 
sionary zeal and justified by his example. Pious 
duty coincided with reasons of state. " It was certainly good 
policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness 
towards an external aim in which they might at once satisfy 
their lust for booty on a grand scale, maintain their warlike 
feeling, *and strengthen themselves in their attachment to the 
new faith." 2 The story of their achievements cannot be set 
down here. Suffice it to say that within twelve years after 
the Prophet's death the Persian Empire had been reduced to a 
tributary province, and Syria, together with Egypt, torn away 
from Byzantine rule. It must not be supposed that the fol- 
lowers of Zoroaster and Christ in these countries 
Mosle tion° lera " were forcibly converted to Islam. Thousands 
embraced it of free will, impelled by various 
motives which we have no space to enumerate ; those who 
clung to the religion in which they had been brought up 

1 See T. W. Arnold's The Preaching of Islam, p. 23 seq., where several 
passages of like import are collected. 

3 Noldeke, Sketches from Eastern History, translated by J. S. Black, 
P- 73. 



MOSLEM CONQUESTS 185 

secured protection and toleration by payment of a capitation- 
tax (jizya). 1 

The tide of foreign conquest, which had scarce begun to 
flow before the death of Abu Bakr, swept with amazing 
rapidity over Syria and Persia in the Caliphate of 
'LW^-^ 'Umar b. al-Khattib (634-644), and continued to 
advance, though with diminished fury, under the 
Prophet's third successor, 'Uthman. We may dwell for a little 
on the noble figure of 'Umar, who was regarded by good 
Moslems in after times as an embodiment of all the virtues 
which a Caliph ought to possess. Probably his character has 
been idealised, but in any case the anecdotes related of him 
give an admirable picture of the man and his age. Here are 
a few, taken almost at random from the pages of Taban. 

One said : " I saw 'Umar coming to the Festival. He walked 
with bare feet, using both hands (for he was ambidextrous) to draw 
round him a red embroidered cloth. He towered above the people, 
as though he were on horseback." 2 A client of (the Caliph) 
'Uthman b. 'Affan relates that he mounted behind his patron and 
they rode together to the enclosure for the beasts which were 
delivered in payment of the poor-tax. It was an 

'manners 6 exceedingly hot day and the simoom was blowing 
fiercely. They saw a man clad only in ia loin-cloth 
and a short cloak (ridd), in which he had wrapped his head, 
driving the camels into the enclosure. 'Uthman said to his 
companion, "Who is this, think you?" When they came up 
to him, behold, it was 'Umar b. al-Khattab. " By God," said 
'Uthman, " this is the strong, the trusty." 3 — 'Umar used to go 
round the markets and recite the Koran and judge between 
disputants wherever he found them. — When Ka'bu 'l-Aljbar, a 
well-known Rabbin of Medina, asked how he could obtain access 
to the Commander of the Faithful, 4 he received this answer : " There 



1 See Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, vol. i, p. 200 sqq. 

2 Taban, i, 2729, 1. 15 sqq. 

3 Ibid., i, 2736, 1. 5 sqq. The words in italics are quoted from Koran, 
xxviii, 26, where they are applied to Moses. 

4 'Umar was the first to assume this title (Amiru 'l-MiCminin), by which 
the Caliphs after him were generally addressed. 



1 86 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE 



is no door nor curtain to be passed ; he performs the rites of prayer, 
then he takes his seat, and any one that wishes may speak to him." 1 
'Umar said in one of his public orations : " By Him who sent 
His sense of Muhammad with the truth, were a single camel to die 
personal G f neglect on the bank of the Euphrates, I should fear 
responsi 1 y. should call the family of al-Khattab " (meaning 

himself) "to account therefor." 2 — " If I live," he is reported to have 
said on another occasion, "please God, I will assuredly spend a 
whole year in travelling among my subjects, for I know they have 
wants which are cut short ere they reach my ears : the governors 
do not bring the wants of the people before me, while the 
people themselves do not attain to me. So I will journey 
to Syria and remain there two months, then to Mesopotamia and 
remain there two months, then to Egypt and remain there two 
months, then to Bahrayn and remain there two months, then to 
Kufa and remain there two months, then to Basra and remain there 
two months; and by God, it will be a year well spent !" 3 — One 
night he came to the house of 'Abdu '1-Rahman b. 'Awf and knocked 
at the door, which was opened by 'Abdu '1-Rahman' s wife. " Do 
not enter," said she, " until I go back and sit in my place ; " so he 
waited. Then she bade him come in, and on his asking, " Have 
you anything in the house ? " she fetched him some food. Mean- 
while 'Abdu '1-Rahman was standing by, engaged in prayer. " Be 
quick, man ! " cried 'Umar. 'Abdu '1-Rahman immediately pro- 
nounced the final salaam, and turning to the Caliph said : " O Com- 
mander of the Faithful, what has brought you here at this hour ? " 
'Umar replied : " A party of travellers who alighted in the neigh- 
bourhood of the market : I was afraid that the thieves 
T ponciman S a of Medina might fall upon them. Let us go and keep 
watch." So he set off with 'Abdu '1-Rahman, and 
when they reached the market-place they seated themselves on 
some high ground and began to converse. Presently they descried, 
far away, the light of a lamp. " Have not I forbidden lamps after 
bedtime ? " 4 exclaimed the Caliph. They went to the spot and 
found a company drinking wine. " Begone," said 'Umar to 'Abdu 
'1-Rahman ; " I know him." Next morning he sent for the culprit 
and said, addressing him by name, " Last night you were drinking 
wine with your friends." " O Commander of the Faithful, how did 



1 Tabari, i, 2738, 7 sqq. 2 Ibid., i, 2739, 4 sqq. 3 ibid., i, 2737, 4 sqq. 

4 It is explained that 'Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to take 
the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that time were 
made of palm-branches. 



'UMAR IBNU y L-KHATTAB 187 

you ascertain that ? " "I saw it with my own eyes." " Has not God 
forbidden you to play the spy ? " 'Umar made no answer and 
pardoned his offence. 1 — When 'Umar ascended the pulpit for the 
purpose of warning the people that they must not do something, he 
His strictness g atnere d his family and said to them : " I have f or- 
towards his own bidden the people to do so-and-so. Now, the people 
family. ^ook at y OU ag kj r( j s i 00 k a t flesh, and I swear 
by God that if I find any one of you doing this thing, I will 
double the penalty against him." 2 — Whenever he appointed a 
governor he used to draw up in writing a certificate of investiture, 

which he caused to be witnessed by some of the 
w^wemors" Refu g ee s or Helpers. It contained the following 

instructions : That he must not ride on horseback, nor 
eat white bread, nor wear fine clothes, nor set up a door between 
himself and those who had aught to ask of him. 3 — It was 'Umar's 
custom to go forth with his governors, on their appointment, to bid 
them farewell. " I have not appointed you," he would say, " over 
the people of Muhammad (God bless him and grant him peace !) 
that you may drag them by their hair and scourge their skins, but 
in order that you may lead them in prayer and judge between them 
with right and divide (the public money) amongst them with equity. 
I have not made you lords of their skin and hair. Do not flog the 
Arabs lest you humiliate them, and do not keep them long on foreign 
service lest you tempt them to sedition, and do not neglect them 
lest you render them desperate. Confine yourselves to the Koran, 
write few Traditions of Muhammad (God bless him and grant him 
peace !), and I am your ally." He used to permit retaliation against 
his governors. On receiving a complaint about any one of them he 
confronted him with the accuser, and punished him if his guilt were 
proved. 4 

It was 'Umar who first made a Register (Diwdn) of the 
The Register of Arabs * n Islam and entered them therein accord- 
•umar. j n g to their tribes and assigned to them their 
stipends. The following account of its institution is extracted 
from the charming history entitled al-Fakhrl : — 

In the fifteenth year of the Hijra (636 a.d.) 'Umar, who was then 
Caliph, seeing that the conquests proceeded without interruption 



1 Tabari, i, 2742, 13 sqq. 
3 Ibid., i, 2747, 7 sqq. 



? Ibid., i, 2745, 15 sqq. 

4 Ibid., i, 2740, last line and foil. 



1 88 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE 



and that the treasures of the Persian monarchs had been taken as 
spoil, and that load after load was being accumulated of gold and 
silver and precious jewels and splendid raiment, resolved to enrich 
the Moslems by distributing all this wealth amongst them ; but he 
did not know how he should manage it. Now there was a Persian 
satrap (marzubdn) at Medina who, when he saw 'Umar's bewilder- 
ment, said to him, " O Commander of the Faithful, the Persian kings 
have a thing they call a Diwdn, in which is kept the whole of their 
revenues and expenditures without exception ; and therein those 
who receive stipends are arranged in classes, so that no confusion 
occurs." 'Umar's attention was aroused. He bade the satrap 
describe it, and on comprehending its nature, he drew up the 
registers and assigned the stipends, appointing a specified allow- 
ance for every Moslem ; and he allotted fixed sums to the wives of 
the Apostle (on whom be God's blessing and peace !) and to his 
concubines and next-of-kin, until he exhausted the money in hand. 
He did not lay up a store in the treasury. Some one came to him 
and said : " O Commander of the Faithful, you should have left 
something to provide for contingencies." 'Umar rebuked him, say- 
ing, " The devil has put these words into your mouth. May God 
preserve me from their mischief ! for it were a temptation to my 
successors. Come what may, I will provide naught except obedience 
to God and His Apostle. That is our provision, whereby we have 
gained that which we have gained." Then, in respect of the 
stipends, he deemed it right that precedence should be according 
to priority of conversion to Islam and of service rendered to the 
Apostle on his fields of battle. 1 

Affinity to Muhammad was also considered. " By God," 
exclaimed 'Umar, " we have not won superiority in this world, 
nor do we hope for recompense for our works from 
The of a i1iamf aCy God hereafter, save through Muhammad (God bless 
him and grant him peace !). He is our title to 
nobility, his tribe are the noblest of the Arabs, and after them 
those are the nobler that are nearer to him in blood. Truly, 
the Arabs are ennobled by God's Apostle. Peradventure some 
of them have many ancestors in common with him, and we 
ourselves are only removed by a few forbears from his line of 
descent, in which we accompany him back to Adam. Notwith- 
standing this, if the foreigners bring good works and 
" Sbegood ^ 16 we ^ rm § none > by God, they are nearer to Muhammad 
on the day of Resurrection than we. Therefore let no 
man regard affinity, but let him work for that which is in God's 



1 Al-Fakhri, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 116, 1. i to p. 117, 1. 3. 



'UMAR IBNU >L-KHATTAB 189 



hands to bestow. He that is retarded by his works will not be sped 
by his lineage." 1 

It may be said of 'Urnar, not less appropriately than of 
Cromwell, that he 



"cast the kingdoms old 
Into another mould ; " 



and he too justified the poet's maxim — 



" The same arts that did gain 
A power, must it maintain." 

Under the system which he organised Arabia, purged of 

infidels, became a vast recruiting-ground for the standing 

armies of Islam : the Arabs in the conquered territories formed 

an exclusive military class, living in great camps and supported 

by revenues derived from the non-Muhammadan population. 

Out of such camps arose two cities destined to make their 

mark in literary history — Basra (Bassora) on the 

Basra and Kufa delta of the Tigris and Euphrates, and Kufa, 
(638A.D.). . ° 

which was founded about the same time on the 

western branch of the latter stream, not far from Hira. 

'Umar was murdered by a Persian slave named Firuz while 
Death of 'Umar fading the prayers in the Great Mosque. With 

(644 a.d.) ^ d ea th the military theocracy and the palmy 
days of the Patriarchal Caliphate draw to a close. The broad 
lines of his character appear in the anecdotes translated above, 
though many details might be added to complete the picture. 
Simple and frugal ; doing his duty without fear or favour ; 
energetic even to harshness, yet capable of tenderness towards 
the weak ; a severe judge of others and especially of himself, 
he was a born ruler and every inch a man. Looking back on 

1 Tabari, i, 2751, 9 sqq. 



190 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE 

the turmoils which followed his death one is inclined to agree 
with the opinion of a saintly doctor who said, five centuries 
afterwards, that " the good fortune of Islam was shrouded in 
the grave-clothes of 'Umar b. al-Khattab." 1 

When the Meccan aristocrats accepted Islam, they only 
yielded to the inevitable. They were now to have an oppor- 
tunity of revenging themselves. 'Uthman b. 
'U^man^eiected <ArTan, who succeeded 'Umar as Caliph, belonged 
to a distinguished Meccan family, the Umayyads or 
descendants of Umayya, which had always taken a leading part 
in the opposition to Muhammad, though c Uthman himself was 
among the Prophet's first disciples. He was a pious, well- 
meaning old man — an easy tool in the hands of his ambitious 
kinsfolk. They soon climbed into all the most lucrative and 
important offices and lived on the fat of the land, while too 
often their ungodly behaviour gave point to the question whether 
these converts of the eleventh hour were not still heathens at 
heart. Other causes contributed to excite a general 
General disaffec- discontent. The rapid growth of luxury and 
immorality in the Holy Cities as well as in the 
new settlements was an eyesore to devout Moslems. The 
true Islamic aristocracy, the Companions of the Prophet, headed 
by 4 AH, Talha, and Zubayr, strove to undermine the rival 
nobility which threatened them with destruction. The 
factious soldiery were ripe for revolt against Umayyad arrogance 
'Uthmanmur- and greed. Rebellion broke out, and finally the 
dered (656 a.d.). a g ec | C a liph 5 after enduring a siege of several 
weeks, was murdered in his own house. This event marks an 
epoch in the history of the Arabs. The ensuing civil wars 
rent the unity of Islam from top to bottom, and the wound 
has never healed. 

'All, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who had hitherto 



1 Ibn Khallikan (ed. by Wiistenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, 1. 3 ; De Slane's 
translation, vol. i, p. 152. 



<uthmAn AND 'A Lf 191 



remained in the background, was now made Caliph. Al- 
though the suspicion that he was in league with the 
murderers may be put aside, he showed cul- 
caiiph (656 A d D.)- P a ^ e weakness in leaving 'Uthman to his fate 
without an effort to save him. But 'All had 
almost every virtue except those of the ruler : energy, 
decision, and foresight. He was a gallant warrior, a wise 
counsellor, a true friend, and a generous foe. 
Char, AH erof He excelled in poetry and in eloquence; his 
verses and sayings are famous throughout the 
Muhammadan East, though few of them can be considered 
authentic. A fine spirit worthy to be compared with 
Montrose and Bayard, he had no talent for the stern 
realities of statecraft, and was overmatched by unscrupulous 
rivals who knew that "war is a game of deceit." Thus 
his career was in one sense a failure : his authority as 
Caliph was never admitted, while he lived, by the whole 
community. On the other hand, he has exerted, down to 
the present day, a posthumous influence only 
His apotheosis. seCQn( j tQ of Muhammad himself. Within 

a' century of his death he came to be regarded as the 
Prophet's successor jure divino ; as a blessed martyr, sinless 
and infallible ; and by some even as an incarnation of God. 
The 'AH of Shi'ite legend is not an historical figure glori- 
fied : rather does he symbolise, in purely mythical fashion, 
the religious aspirations and political aims of a large section 
of the Moslem world. 



To return to our narrative. No sooner was 'AK pro- 
claimed Caliph by the victorious rebels than Mu'awiya b. 

Abi Sufyan, the governor of Syria, raised the 
Mu'awi£ a st CI T °^ vengeance for 'Uthman and refused to 
take the oath of allegiance. As head of the 
Umayyad family, Mu'awiya might justly demand that the 
murderers of his kinsman should be punished, but the con- 



192 THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE 



test between him and 'AH was virtually for the Caliphate. 
A great battle was fought at Siffm, a village on the 
Euphrates. 4 AH had well-nigh gained the day 
Ba (6s e 7A f J) ffin when Mu'awiya bethought him of a stratagem. 

He ordered his troops to fix Korans on the 
points of their lances and to shout, "Here is the Book ot 
God : let it decide between us ! " The miserable trick 
succeeded. In 'All's army there were many pious fanatics 
to whom the proposed arbitration by the Koran appealed 
with irresistible force. They now sprang forward 
clamorously, threatening to betray their leader unless he 
would submit his cause to the Book. Vainly did 'AH 
remonstrate with the mutineers, and warn them of the 
trap into which they were driving him, and this too at 
the moment when victory was within their grasp. He 
had no choice but to yield and name as his 
umpire a man of doubtful loyalty, Abu Musa 
al-Ash'an, one of the oldest surviving Companions of the 
Prophet. Mu'awiya on his part named 4 Amr b. al-'As, 
whose cunning had prompted the decisive manoeuvre. 
When the umpires came forth to give judgment, Abu 
Musa rose and in accordance with what had been arranged 
at the preliminary conference pronounced that both 'AH 
and Mu'awiya should be deposed and that the 
people should elect a proper Caliph in their 
stead. " Lo," said he, laying down his sword, " even thus 
do I depose 'AH b. Abi Talib." Then 'Amr advanced and 
spoke as follows : " O people ! ye have heard the judgment 
of my colleague. He has called you to witness that he 
deposes 'AH. Now I call you to witness that I confirm 
Mu'awiya, even as I make fast this sword of mine," and 
suiting the action to the word, he returned it to its sheath. 
It is characteristic of Arabian notions of morality that this 
impudent fraud was hailed by Mu'awiya's adherents as a 
diplomatic triumph which gave him a colourable pretext 



CIVIL WAR 



193 



for assuming the title of Caliph. Both sides prepared to 
renew the struggle, but in the meanwhile 'AH found his 
hands full nearer home. A numerous party among his 
troops, including the same zealots who had forced arbitra- 
tion upon him, now cast him off because he had accepted 

it, fell out from the ranks, and raised the 
35tt$E* standard of revolt. These <Outgoers,' or 

Kharijites, as they were called, maintained 
their theocratic principles with desperate courage, and 
though often defeated took the field again and again. 
'All's plans for recovering Syria were finally abandoned 

in 660, when he concluded peace with 
ah assassinated Mu'awiya, and shortly afterwards he was struck 

(66l A.D.). J 7 J 

down in the Mosque at Kufa, which he had 
made his capital, by Ibn Muljam, a Kharijite conspirator. 

With 'All's fall our sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate 
may fitly end. It was necessary to give some account of 
these years so vital in the history of Islam, even at the 
risk of wearying the reader, who will perhaps wish that 
less space were devoted to political affairs. 



The Umayyads came into power, but, except in Syria and 
Egypt, they ruled solely by the sword. As descendants and 

representatives of the pagan aristocracy, which 
Th dyn?sty yad strove a ^ * ts might to defeat Muhammad, 

they were usurpers in the eyes of the Moslem 
community which they claimed to lead as his successors. 1 
We shall see, a little further on, how this opposition ex- 
pressed itself in two great parties : the Shf'ites or followers 
of 'AH, and the radical sect of the Kharijites, who have 
been mentioned above ; and how it was gradually rein- 
forced by the non-Arabian Moslems until it overwhelmed 

1 Mu'awiya himself said : "I am the first of the kings " (Ya'qubi, ed. by 
Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, 1. 14). 

14 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



the Umayyad Government and set up the 'Abb&sids in their 
place. In estimating the character of the Umayyads one 
must bear in mind that the epitaph on the fallen 

Moslem tradi- . , , . . , 

tion hostile to dynasty was composed by their enemies, and can 
the Umayyads. ^ more be considered historically truthful than 
the lurid picture which Tacitus has drawn of the Emperor 
Tiberius. Because they kept the revolutionary forces in 
check with ruthless severity, the Umayyads pass for blood- 
thirsty tyrants ; whereas the best of them at any rate were 
strong and singularly capable rulers, bad Moslems and good 
men of the world, seldom cruel, plain livers if not high 
thinkers ; who upon the whole stand as much above the 
'Abbasids in morality as below them in culture and intel- 
lect. Mu'dwiya's clemency was proverbial, though he too 
could be stern on occasion. When members of the house 
of 'AH came to visit him at Damascus, which was now 
the capital of the Muhammadan Empire, he gave them 
honourable lodging and entertainment and was anxious to 

do what they asked ; but they (relates the his- 
demeicy? torian approvingly) used to address him in the 

rudest terms and affront him in the vilest 
manner : sometimes he would answer them with a jest, and 
another time he would feign not to hear, and he always 
dismissed them with splendid presents and ample donations. 1 
" I do not employ my sword," he said, " when my whip 
suffices me, nor my whip when my tongue suffices me ; and 
were there but a single hair (of friendship) between me and 
my subjects, I would not let it be snapped." 2 After the 

business of the day he sought relaxation in books. 
HiS study S ° f " ^ e con secrated a third part of every night to 

the history of the Arabs and their famous battles ; 
the history of foreign peoples, their kings, and their govern- 
ment ; the biographies of monarchs, including their wars 

1 Al-Fakhri, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145 

2 Ya'qubi, vol. ii, p, 283, 1. 8 seq. 



Ml?A WIYA 195 

and stratagems and methods of rule ; and other matters 
connected with Ancient History." 1 

Mu'awiya's chief henchman was Ziy&d, the son of Sumayya 
(Sumayya being the name of his mother), or, as he is generally 
called, Ziydd ibn Ablhi, i.e. y 'Ziyad his father's 

ziyadibn son ' f or n0 ne knew who was his sire, though 

Abihi. » . 

rumour pointed to Abu Sufyan ; in which case 
Ziyid would have been Mu'awiya's half-brother. Mu'dwiya, 
instead of disavowing the scandalous imputation, acknowledged 
him as such, and made him governor of Basra, where he ruled 
the Eastern provinces with a rod of iron. 

Mu'awiya was a crafty diplomatist — he has been well com- 
pared to Richelieu — whose profound knowledge of human 
nature enabled him to gain over men of moderate opinions in 
all the parties opposed to him. Events were soon to prove the 
hollowness of this outward reconciliation. Yazid, who suc- 
ceeded his father, was the son of Maysun, a 
(68o^5§"ad) Bedouin lady whom Mu'awiya married before he 
rose to be Caliph. The luxury of Damascus had 
no charm for her wild spirit, and she gave utterance to her 
feeling of homesickness in melancholy verse : — 

"A tent with rustling breezes cool 
Delights me more than palace high, 
And more the cloak of simple wool 
Than robes in which I learned to sigh. 

The crust I ate beside my tent 
Was more than this fine bread to me ; 
The wind's voice where the hill-path went 
Was more than tambourine can be. 

And more than purr of friendly cat 
I love the watch-dog's bark to hear; 
And more than a barbarian fat 
A cousin brave and gaunt is dear." 2 



1 Mas'udi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. v. p. 77. 

2 Noldeke's Delectus, p. 25, 1. 3 sqq., omitting 1. 8. 



ig6 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



Mu'&wiya, annoyed by the contemptuous allusion to him- 
self, took the dame at her word. She returned to her own 
family, and Yazfd grew up as a Bedouin, with the instincts 
and tastes which belong to the Bedouins — love of pleasure, 
hatred of piety, and reckless disregard for the laws of religion. 
The beginning of his reign was marked by an event of 
which even now few Moslems can speak without a thrill 
of horror and dismay. The facts are briefly these : In the 
autumn of the year 680 Husayn, the son of 'AH, claiming 
to be the rightful Caliph in virtue of his descent from the 
Prophet, quitted Mecca with his whole family and a number 
of devoted friends, and set out for Kufa, where he expected 
the population, which was almost entirely Shftte, to rally 
to his cause. It was a foolhardy adventure, 
marches on The poet Farazdaq, who knew the fickle tem- 
per of his fellow- townsmen, told Husayn that 
although their hearts were with him, their swords would be 
with the Umayyads 5 but his warning was given in vain. 
Meanwhile 'Ubaydull&h b. Ziydd, the governor of Kufa, 
having overawed the insurgents in the city and beheaded 
their leader, Muslim b. 'Aqil, who was a cousin of Husayn, 
sent a force of cavalry with orders to bring the arch-rebel 
to a stand. Retreat was still open to him. But his followers 
cried out that the blood of Muslim must be avenged, and 
Husayn could not hesitate. Turning northward along the 
Euphrates, he encamped at Karbala with his little band, 
which, including the women and children, amounted to 
some two hundred souls. In this hopeless* situation he 
offered terms which might have been accepted if Shamir b. 
Dhi 'l-Jawshan, a name for ever infamous and accursed, had 
not persuaded 'Ubaydulldh to insist on unconditional sur- 
render. The demand was refused, and Husayn drew up 
his comrades — a handful of men and boys — for battle 
against the host which surrounded them. All the harrow- 
ing details invented by grief and passion can scarcely 



BATTLE OF KARBALA 197 



heighten the tragedy of the closing scene. It would appear 
that the Umayyad officers themselves shrank from the 

odium of a general massacre, and hoped to 
SMa?n C and°his taIce tne Prophet's grandson alive. Shamir, 
KarballTioth however, had no such scruples. Chafing at 
6i M A U S a = a Sh delay, he urged his soldiers to the assault. The 
° ct A.D e ) r ' 680 unequal struggle was soon over. Husayn fell, 

pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers 
were cut down beside him to the last man. 

Muhammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is 
uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty, regards Husayn 

as a martyr and Yazfd as his murderer ; while 
o?Muhamma e da S n modern historians, for the most part, agree with 
and ^ue°r? ean Sir w - Muir > who P oints out that Husayn, 

" having yielded himself to a treasonable, though 
impotent design upon the throne, was committing an 
offence that endangered society and demanded swift suppres- 
sion." This was naturally the view of the party in power, 
and the reader must form his own conclusion as to how 
far it justifies the action which they took. For Moslems 
the question is decided by the relation of the Umayyads to 

Islam. Violators of its laws and spurners of its 
The judged yads ideals, they could never be anything but tyrants ; 

by islam. being tyrants, they had no right to slay 

believers who rose in arms against their usurped authority. 
The so-called verdict of history, when we come to examine 
it, is seen to be the verdict of religion, the judgment of 
theocratic Islam on Arabian Imperialism. On this ground 
the Umayyads are justly condemned, but it is well to re- 
member that in Moslem eyes the distinction between 

Church and State does not exist. Yazid was a 
Ch Yazidf ° f ^ad Churchman : therefore he was a wicked 

tyrant ; the one thing involves the other. 
From our unprejudiced standpoint, he was an amiable 
prince who inherited his mother's poetic talent, and infin- 



198 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 

itely preferred wine, music, and sport to the drudgery 
of public affairs. The Syrian Arabs, who recognised the 
Umayyads as legitimate, thought highly of him : " Jucun- 
dissimus," says a Christian writer, " et cunctis nationibus 
regni ejus subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, 
ut omnibus moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam 
appetivit, sed communis cum omnibus civiliter vixit." 1 He 
deplored the fate of the women and children of Husayn's 
family, treated them with every mark of respect, and sent 
them to Medina, where their account of the tragedy added 
fresh fuel to the hatred and indignation with which its 
authors were generally regarded. 

The Umayyads had indeed ample cause to rue the day 
of Karbala. It gave the Shi'ite faction a rallying-cry — 
" Vengeance ~ for Husayn ! " — which was taken up on all 
sides, and especially by the Persian Mawall y or Clients, who 
longed for deliverance from the Arab yoke. Their amalga- 
mation with the Shi'a — a few years later they flocked in 
thousands to the standard of Mukhtdr — was an event of 
the utmost historical importance, which will be discussed 
when we come to speak of the Shi'ites in particular. 

The slaughter of Husayn does not complete the tale of 
Yazfd's enormities. Medina, the Prophet's city, having 
expelled its Umayyad governor, was sacked by 
Me Mec a ca nd a Syrian army, while Mecca itself, where 
S?i£). 'Abdullah b. Zubayr had set up as rival Caliph, 
was besieged, and the Ka'ba laid in ruins. These 
outrages, shocking to Moslem sentiment, kindled a flame of 
rebellion. Husayn was avenged by Mukhtdr, 
Mukhtar who seized Kufa and executed some three hun- 
(685-6 a.d.). f t | ie g U ilty citizens, including the mis- 

creant Shamir. His troops defeated and slew 'Ubaydullah b. 
Ziyad, but he himself was slain, not long afterwards, by 



1 The Continuatio of Isidore of Hispalis, § 27, quoted by Wellhausen, 
Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz t p. 105. 



YAZfD 



Mus'ab, the brother of Ibn Zubayr, and seven thousand of 
his followers were massacred in cold blood. On Yazi'd's 
death (683) the Umayyad Empire threatened to fall to 
pieces. As a contemporary poet sang — 

"Now loathed of all men is the Fury blind 
Which blazeth as a fire blown by the wind. 
They are split in sects : each province hath its own 
Commander of the Faithful, each its throne." 1 



Fierce dissensions broke out among the Syrian Arabs, the 
backbone of the dynasty. The great tribal groups of Kalb and 
Qays, whose coalition had hitherto maintained 
renewed tne Umayyads in power, fought on opposite sides 
at Marj Rahit (684), the former for Marwan and 
the latter for Ibn Zubayr. Marwan's victory secured the 
allegiance of Syria, but henceforth Qays and Kalb were 
always at daggers drawn. 2 This was essentially a feud between 
the Northern and the Southern Arabs — a feud which rapidly 
extended and developed into a permanent racial enmity. 

They carried it with them to the farthest ends 
Northern and of the world, so that, for example, after the 

Southern Arabs. r n . . . . 

conquest or bpain precautions had to be taken 
against civil war by providing that Northerners and Southerners 
should not settle in the same districts. The literary history of 
this antagonism has been sketched by Dr. Goldziher with his 
wonted erudition and acumen.3 Satire was, of course, the 

1 Hamdsa, 226. The word translated 'throne' is in Arabic minbar, 
i.e., the pulpit from which the Caliph conducted the public prayers and 
addressed the congregation. 

s Kalb was properly one of the Northern tribes (see Robertson Smith's 
Kinship and Marriage, 2nd ed., p. 8 seq. — a reference which I owe to 
Professor Bevan), but there is evidence that the Kalbites were regarded 
as 1 Yemenite ' or 1 Southern ' Arabs at an early period of Islam. Cf. 
Goldziher, Muhammedanische Sludien, Part I, p. 83, 1. 3 sqq. 

3 Muhammedanische Studien, i, 78 sqq. 



200 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 

principal weapon of both sides. Here is a fragment by a 
Northern poet which belongs to the Umayyad period : — 



Negroes are better, when they name their sires, 
Than Qahtan's sons, 1 the uncircumcised cowards 
A folk whom thou mayst see, at war's outflame, 
More abject than a shoe to tread in baseness ; 
Their women free to every lecher's lust, 
Their clients spoil for cavaliers and footmen." 2 



Thus the Arab nation was again torn asunder by the old 
tribal pretensions which Muhammad sought to abolish. That 
they ultimately proved fatal to the Umayyads is no matter for 
surprise ; the sorely pressed dynasty was already tottering, its 
enemies were at its gates. By good fortune it produced at 
this crisis an exceptionally able and vigorous ruler, 'Abdu 
'1-Malik b. Mar wan, who not only saved his house from 
destruction, but re-established its supremacy and inaugurated 
a more brilliant epoch than any that had gone before. 

c Abdu 'l-Malik succeeded his father in 685, but required 
seven years of hard fighting to make good his claim to the 
Caliphate. When his most formidable rival, Ibn 
and his Zubayr, had fallen in battle (692), the eastern 

successors. . .,, , 1 i 1 rr i 

provinces were still overrun by rebels, who ottered 
a desperate resistance to the governor of 'Iraq, the iron- 
handed Hajjaj. But enough of bloodshed. Peace also had 
her victories during the troubled reign of 'Abdu 'l-Malik and 
the calmer sway of his successors. Four of the next five 
Caliphs were his own sons — Wah'd (705-715), Sulayman 
(715-717), Yazid II (720-724), and Hisham (724-743) ; 1 
the fifth, 'Umar II, was the son of his brother, 'Abdu 'l-'Azfz. 
For the greater part of this time the Moslem lands enjoyed a 
well-earned interval of repose and prosperity, which mitigated, 
though it could not undo, the frightful devastation wrought by 



1 Qahtan is the legendary ancestor of the Southern Arabs. 

2 Aghdni, xiii, 51, cited by Goldziher, ibid., p. 82. 



l ABDU S L- MALIK 



201 



twenty years of almost continuous civil war. Many reforms 
were introduced, some wholly political in character, while 
others inspired by the same motives have, none the less, a 

direct bearing on literary history. 'Abdu '1-Malik 
'AbdJTSiaiik. organised an excellent postal service, by means of 

relays of horses, for the conveyance of despatches 
and travellers ; he substituted for the Byzantine and Persian 
coins, which had hitherto been in general use, new gold and 
silver pieces, on which he caused sentences from the Koran 
to be engraved ; and he made Arabic, instead of Greek or 
Persian, the official language of financial administration. 
Steps were taken, moreover, to improve the extremely 
defective Arabic script, and in this way to provide a sound 
basis for the study and interpretation of the Koran as well 
as for the collection of hadlths or sayings of the Prophet, 
which form an indispensable supplement thereto. The Arabic 

alphabet, as it was then written, consisted entirely 
The jJ"bic. g ° f °f consonants, so that, to give an illustration from 

English, bnd might denote band, bend, bind, or 
bond ; crt might stand for cart, carat, curt, and so on. To 
an Arab this ambiguity mattered little ; far worse confusion 
arose from the circumstance that many of the consonants 
themselves were exactly alike : thus, e.g., it was possible to 
read the same combination of three letters as bnt, nbt, byt, tnb, 
ntb, nyb, and in various other ways. Considering the difficul- 
ties of the Arabic language, which are so great that a European 
aided by scientific grammars and unequivocal texts will often 
find himself puzzled even when he has become tolerably 
familiar with it, one may imagine that the Koran was virtually 
a sealed book to all but a few among the crowds of foreigners 
who accepted Islam after the early conquests. 'Abdu'l-Malik's 
viceroy in 'Iraq, the famous Hajjaj, who began life as a school- 
master, exerted himself to promote the use of vowel-marks 
(borrowed from the Syriac) and ot the diacritical points placed 
above or below similar consonants. This extraordinary man 



202 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



deserves more than a passing mention. A stern disciplinarian, 
who could be counted upon to do his duty without any regard 

to public opinion, he was chosen by 'Abdu 'l-Malik 
^(¥714 AJD U ) Uf to besiege Mecca, which Ibn Zubayr was holding 

as anti-Caliph. Hajjaj bombarded the city, defeated 
the Pretender, and sent his head to Damascus. Two years 
afterwards he became governor of 'Iraq. Entering the 
Mosque at Kufa, he mounted the pulpit and introduced 
himself to the assembled townsmen in these memorable 
words : — 

"I am he who scattereth the darkness and climbeth o'er the 
summits. 

When I lift the turban from my face, ye will know me. 1 

O people of Kufa ! I see heads that are ripe for cutting, 
and I am the man to do it ; and methinks, I see blood between 
the turbans and beards." 2 The rest of his speech was in 
keeping with the commencement. He used no idle threats, 
as the malcontents soon found out. Rebellion, which had 
been rampant before his arrival, was rapidly extinguished. 
" He restored order in 'Iraq and subdued its people." 3 For 
twenty years his despotic rule gave peace and security to 
the Eastern world. Cruel he may have been, though the 
tales of his bloodthirstiness are beyond doubt grossly exaggerated, 
but it should be put to his credit that he estab- 

H iiterature. to Wished and maintained the settled conditions which 
afford leisure for the cultivation of learning. 
Under his protection the Koran and Traditions were diligently 
studied both in Kufa and Basra, where many Companions of 
the Prophet had made their home : hence arose in Basra the 
science of Grammar, with which, as we shall see in a subse- 
quent page, the name of that city is peculiarly associated. 

1 A verse of the poet Suhaym b. Wathil. 

2 The Kdmil of al-Mubarrad, ed. by W. Wright, p. 215, 1. 14 sqq. 

3 Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Ma'drif, p. 202. 



HAJjAj IBN YtfSUF 



203 



Hajjaj shared the literary tastes of his sovereign ; he admired 
the old poets and patronised the new ; he was a master of 
terse eloquence and plumed himself on his elegant Arabic 
style. The most hated man of his time, he lives in history as 
the savage oppressor and butcher of God-fearing Moslems. 
He served the Umayyads well and faithfully, and when he 
died in 714 a.d. he left behind him nothing but his Koran, his 
arms, and a few hundred pieces of silver. 

It was a common saying at Damascus that under Walid 
people talked of fine buildings, under Sulayman of cookery 

and the fair sex, while in the reign of 'Umar b. 
(7o5^7i5a.d.). C Abd al-'Aziz the Koran and religion formed 

favourite topics of conversation. 1 Of Walid's 
passion for architecture we have a splendid monument in the 
Great Mosque of Damascus (originally the Cathedral of 
St. John), which is the principal sight of the city to this 
day. He spoke Arabic very incorrectly, and though his 
father rebuked him, observing that " in order to rule the 
Arabs one must be proficient in their language," he could 
never learn to express himself with propriety. 2 The unbroken 
peace which now prevailed within the Empire enabled Walid 
to resume the work of conquest. In the East his armies 
invaded Transoxania, captured Bokhara and Samarcand, and 

pushed forward to the Chinese frontier. Another 
conquests in the force crossed the Indus and penetrated as far as 

Miiltan, a renowned centre of pilgrimage in the 
Southern Punjaub, which fell into the hands of the Moslems 
after a prolonged siege. But the most brilliant advance, and 
the richest in its results, was that in the extreme West, wliich 
decided the fate of Spain. Although the Moslems had obtained 
a footing in Northern Africa some thirty years before this 
time, their position was always precarious, until in 709 Musa 

1 Al-Fakhri, p. 173 ; Ibnu 'l-Athi'r, ed. by Tornberg, v, 5. 

2 Ibid., p. 174. Cf. Mas'udi, Muruju l-Dhahab, v, 412. 



204 THE UMA YYAD DYNASTY 



b. Nusayr completely subjugated the Berbers, and extended not 
only the dominion but also the faith of Islam to the Atlantic 
Ocean. Two years later his freedman Tariq 

Conquest of , , • 1 i r » 

Spain crossed the straits and took possession of the 
(711 713 a.d.). comman( ji n g height, called by the ancients Calpe, 
but henceforth known as Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar). Roderic, 
the last of the West Gothic dynasty, gathered an army in 
defence of his kingdom, but there were traitors in the camp, 
and, though he himself fought valiantly, their defection turned 
the fortunes of the day. The king fled, and it was never 
ascertained what became of him. Tariq, meeting with feeble 
resistance, marched rapidly on Toledo, while Miisd, whose 
jealousy was excited by the triumphal progress of his lieu- 
tenant, now joined in the campaign, and, storming city after 
city, reached the Pyrenees. The conquest of Spain, which is 
told by Moslem historians with many romantic circumstances, 
marks the nearest approach that the Arabs ever made to 
World-Empire. Their advance on French soil was finally 
hurled back by Charles the Hammer's great victory at Tours 
(732 A.D.). 

Before taking leave of the Umayyads we must not forget to 
mention 'Umar b. *Abd al-'Aziz, a ruler who stands out in 

singular contrast with his predecessors, and whose 
al-'Aziz brief reign is regarded by many Moslems as the 

sole bright spot in a century of godless and blood- 
stained tyranny. There had been nothing like it since the 
days of his illustrious namesake and kinsman, 1 'Umar b. 
al-Khattab, and we shall find nothing like it in the future 
history of the Caliphate. Plato desired that every king should 
be a philosopher : according to Muhammadan theory every 
Caliph ought to be a saint, 'Umar satisfied these aspirations. 
When he came to the throne the following dialogue is said to 
have occurred between him and one of his favourites, Salim 
al-Suddi : — 

1 His mother, Umrn 'Asim, was a granddaughter of 'Umar I. 



'UMAR B. 'ABD AL-'AZfZ 



205 



'Umar : " Are you glad on account of my accession, or sorry ? " 
Salim : "lam glad for the people's sake, but sorry for yours." 
'Umar : " I fear that I have brought perdition upon my soul." 
Salim : " If you are afraid, very good. I only fear that you may 
cease to be afraid." 
'Umar : " Give me a word of counsel." 

Salim : " Our father Adam was driven forth from Paradise because 
of one sin." 1 

Poets and orators found no favour at his court, which was 
thronged by divines and men of ascetic life. 2 He warned his 
governors that they must either deal justly or go. He would 
not allow political considerations to interfere with his ideal of 
righteousness, but, as Wellhausen points out, he had practical 
ends in view : his piety made him anxious for the common 
weal no less than for his own salvation. Whether he 
administered the State successfully is a matter of dispute. 
It has been generally supposed that his financial reforms 
were Utopian in character and disastrous to the Exchequer.3 
However this may be, he showed wisdom in seeking to bridge 
the menacing chasm between Islam and the Imperial house. 
Thus, e.g.y he did away with the custom which had long 
prevailed of cursing c Ali from the pulpit at Friday prayers. 
The policy of conciliation was tried too late, and for too short 
a space, to be effective ; but it was not entirely fruitless. 
When, on the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty, the tombs 
of the hated 4 tyrants ' were defiled and their bodies dis- 
interred, 'Umar's grave alone was respected, and Mas'udl 

1 Mas'udi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab, v, 419 seq. 

2 Ibnu '1-Athir, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. Cf. Aghdm, xx, p. 119, 1. 23. 
'Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour of 
the poet Jarir. See Brockelmann's Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur, vol. i, p. 57. 

3 The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, Das Arabische Reich und 
sein Sturz (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new light. 
He contends that 'Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal grounds, 
but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so far from 
introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were designed to 
remedy the confusion which already existed. 



206 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



(1956 A.D.) tells us that in his time it was visited by 
crowds of pilgrims. 

The remaining Umayyads do not call for particular notice. 
Hisham ranks as a statesman with Mu'&wiya and <Abdu 

'l-Malik : the great 'Abbasid Caliph, Mansur, is 
H watfdii. d sa ^ t0 nave admired and imitated his methods 

of government. 1 Walid II was an incorrigible 
libertine, whose songs celebrating the forbidden delights of 
wine have much merit. The eminent poet and freethinker, 
Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arrf, quotes these verses by him 2 : — 

"The Imam Walid am I ! In all my glory 
verses by trailing robes I listen to soft lays. 

Walid ii When proudly I sweep on towards her chamber, 
(743-4 a.d.). i care n0 {. wn0 inveighs. 

There's no true joy but lending ear to music, 
Or wine that leaves one sunk in stupor dense. 
Houris in Paradise I do not look for : 
Does any man of sense ? " 

Let us now turn from the monarchs to their subjects. 
In the first place we shall speak of the political and religious 
parties, whose opposition to the Umayyad House gradually 
undermined its influence and in the end brought 
re^ous al mOT d i- about its fal1 - Some account will be given of the 
me period? he ideas f° r which these parties fought and of the 
causes of their discontent with the existing 
regime. Secondly, a few words must be said of the theological 
and more purely religious sects — the Mu'tazilites, Murjites, and 
Sufis ; and, lastly, of the extant literature, which is almost 
exclusively poetical, and its leading representatives. 

1 Mas'udi, Muritju 'l-Dhahab, v, 479. 

2 The Arabic text and literal translation of these verses will be found in 
my article on Abu 'l-'Ala's Risdlatu H-Ghufrdn [J.R.A.S. for 1902, pp. 829 
and 342). 



OPPOSITION PARTIES 207 



The opposition to the Umayyads was at first mainly a 
question of politics. Mu'awiya's accession announced the 
triumph of Syria over 'Iraq, and Damascus, 
The '£iq bsof instead of Kufa, became the capital of the 
Empire. As Wellhausen observes, "the most 
powerful risings against the Umayyads proceeded from 
'Iraq, not from any special party, but from the whole mass 
of the Arabs settled there, who were united in resenting the 
loss of their independence (Selbstherrlichkeit) and in hating 
those into whose hands it had passed." 1 At the same time 
these feelings took a religious colour and identified them- 
selves with the cause of Islam. The new government fell 
lamentably short of the theocratic standard by which it was 
judged. Therefore it was evil, and (according to the 
Moslem's conception of duty) every right-thinking man 
must work for its destruction. 

Among the myriads striving for this consummation, and so 
far making common cause with each other, we can distinguish 

four principal classes, 
to^hfuma^ad (i) The religious Moslems, or Pietists, in 
government g eU Q r ^ wno formed a wing of the Orthodox 
Party. 2 

(2) The Kharijites, who may be described as the Puritans 
and extreme Radicals of theocracy. 

(3) The Shi'ites, or partisans of 'All and his House. 

(4) The Non- Arabian Moslems, who were called Maw all 
(Clients). 

It is clear that the Pietists — including divines learned in the 
law, reciters of the Koran, Companions of the Prophet and 

1 Wellhausen, Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz, p. 38. 

2 I.e., the main body of Moslems — Sunms, followers of the Sunna, as 
they were afterwards called — who were neither Shi'ites nor Kharijites, 
but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem community, 
and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's tribe. All 
these parties arose out of the struggle between 'All and Mu'awiya, and 
their original difference turned solely on the question of the Caliphate. 



208 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



their descendants — could not but abominate the secular autho- 
rity which they were now compelled to obey. The convic- 
tion that Might, in the shape of the tyrant and 

The Pietists. . .. , , -r, • 

his minions, trampled on Right as represented by 
the Koran and the Sunna (custom of Muhammad) drove many 
into active rebellion : five thousand are said to have perished 
in the sack of Medina alone. Others again, like Hasan of 
Basra, filled with profound despair, shut their eyes on the 
world, and gave themselves up to asceticism, a tendency 
which had important consequences, as we shall see. 

When <AK, on the field of Siffin, consented that the claims 
of Mu'dwiya and himself to the Caliphate should be decided 
by arbitration, a large section of his army accused 

The Kharijites. { . » 6 . J , 

him of having betrayed his trust. He, the duly 
elected Caliph— so they argued — should have maintained the 
dignity of his high office inviolate at all costs. On the home- 
ward march the malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, 
broke away and encamped by themselves at Harura, a village 
near Kufa. Their cry was, " God alone can decide " {Id 
hukma ilia lilldhi) : in these terms they protested against the 
arbitration. 'AH endeavoured to win them back, but without 
any lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among them- 
selves, and gathered at Nahrawdn, four thousand 
B wan 6 (658 a?d.)?" strong. On the appearance of 'AH with a vastly 
superior force many of the rebels dispersed, but 
the remainder — about half — preferred to die for their faith. 
Nahrawan was to the Kharijites what Karbala afterwards 
became to the Shl'ites, who from this day were regarded by 
the former as their chief enemies. Frequent Kharijite risings 
took place during the early Umayyad period, but 

Kharijite risings. . . , . .... 

the movement reached its zenith in the years of 
confusion which followed Yazid's death. The Azraqites, so 
called after their leader, Nafi' b. al-Azraq, overran 'Iraq and 
Southern Persia, while another sect, the Najdites, led by 



THE KHARIJITES 209 



Najda b. 'Amir, reduced the greater part of Arabia to sub- 
mission. The insurgents held their ground for a long time 
against 'Abdu '1-Malik, and did not cease from troubling until 
the rebellion headed by Shabib was at last stamped out by 
Hajjaj in 697. 

It has been suggested that the name Kharijl (plural, Khawdrij) 
refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 10 1 ) where mention is made 
of" those who go forth (yakhruj) from their homes 
■Khirijfte.' as emigrants (muhdjir aH ) to God and His Mes- 
senger"; so that 'Kharijite' means 'one who 
leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and 
corresponds to the term Muhdjir^ which was applied to the 
Meccan converts who accompanied the Prophet in his flight 
to Medina. 1 Another name by which they are often desig- 
nated is likewise Koranic in origin, viz., Shurdt (plural of 
Shdr hi ) : literally c Sellers ' — that is to say, those who sell 
their lives and goods in return for Paradise. 2 The Kharijites 
were mostly drawn from the Bedouin soldiery who settled in 
Basra and Kufa after the Persian wars. Civil life wrought 
little change in their unruly temper. Far from 
Th theorics. cal acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a 
Qurayshite, they desired a chief of their own 
blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as long 
as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon 
him.3 The mainspring oi the movement, however, was 
pietistic, and can be traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to 
the Koran-readers who made it a matter of conscience 
that 'AH should avow his contrition for the fatal error 
which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation 
had forced him to commit. They cast off 'AH for the same 

1 Briinnow, Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden (Leiden, 
1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the Kharijites 
called themselves by this name. In any case, the term implies seces- 
sion (khuruj) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by 
1 Seceder ' or 1 Nonconformist.' 

2 Cf. Koran, ix, 112. 3 Briinnow, op. tit, p. 8. 

15 



2io THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



reason which led them to strike at 'Uthman : in both cases 
they were maintaining the cause of God against an unjust 
Caliph. 1 It is important to remember these facts in view of 
the cardinal Kharijite doctrines (i) that every free Arab was 
eligible as Caliph, 2 and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must be 
deposed and, if necessary, put to death. Mustawrid b. 'Ullifa, 
the Kharijite 6 Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to Simak 
b. 'Ubayd, the governor of Ctesiphon, as follows : " We call 
you to the Book of God Almighty and Glorious, and to the 
Sunna (custom) of the Prophet — on whom be peace ! — and to 
the administration of Abu Bakr and 'Umar — may God be 
well pleased with them ! — and to renounce 'Uthman and 
'AH because they corrupted the true religion and abandoned 
the authority of the Book." 3 From this it appears that the 
Kharijite programme was simply the old Islam of equality and 
fraternity, which had never been fully realised and was now 
irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout Moslems shared 
in the desire for its restoration and condemned the existing 
Government no less cordially than did the Kharijites. What 
distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with 
which they carried their principles into action. To them it 
was absolutely vital that the Imam, or head of the com- 

1 Wellhausen, Die religios-politischen Opposilionsparteien im alien Islam 
(Abhandluugen der Konigl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu G'6ttingen % 
Phil. -Hist Klasse, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues against Briinnow 
that the oldest Kharijites were not true Bedouins (A'rdbl), and were, in 
fact, even further removed than the rest of the military colonists of Kufa 
and Basra from their Bedouin traditions. He points out that the extreme 
piety of the Readers — their constant prayers, vigils, and repetitions of the 
Koran — exactly agrees with what is related of the Kharijites, and is 
described in similar language. Moreover, among the oldest Kharijites 
we find mention made of a company clad in long cloaks (bardnis, pi. of 
buruus), which were at that time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, 
the earliest authority (Abu Mikhnaf in Tabari, i, 3330, 1. 6 sqq.) regards 
the Kharijites as an offshoot from the Readers, and names individual 
Readers who afterwards became rabid Kharijites. 

2 Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the Kharijite ranks the 
field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even slaves. 

3 Tabari, ii, 40, 13 sqq. 



THE KHARIJ1TES 



211 



munity, should rule in the name and according to the will 
of God : those who followed any other sealed their doom in 
the next world : eternal salvation hung upon the choice of 
a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate 
'Uthman and 'AK were the worst of infidels ; it was the duty 
of every true believer to take part in the Holy War against 
such, and to kill them, together with their wives and children. 
These atrocities recoiled upon the insurgents, who soon found 
themselves in danger of extermination. Milder counsels began 
to prevail. Thus the Ibadites (followers of 'Abdullah b. Ibad) 
held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with 
them on terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was 
in truth incompatible with the raison d'etre of the Kharijites, 
namely, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. 
This meant virtual anarchy : " their unbending logic shattered 
every constitution which it set up." As 'AH remarked, " they 
say, ' No government' (Id imard), but there must be a govern- 
ment, good or bad." 1 Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for 
which they fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other 
political parties, no worldly interests to serve. 

The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious 
views, which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen 
few in an ungodly world. ShahrastanL speaking 

Their religion. . . & 3 ' r & 

of the original twelve thousand who rebelled 
against 'All, describes them as 'people of fasting and 
prayer' (ahlu siyarri" wa-saldt in ). 2 The Koran ruled their 
lives and possessed their imaginations, so that the history 
of the early Church, the persecutions, martyrdoms, and 
triumphs of the Faith became a veritable drama which was 
being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell kindled in 
them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They scrupu- 
lously examined their own belief as well as that of their 
neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting ! A 

1 Shahrastam, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88, 1. 12. 

2 Ibid., p. 86, 1. 3 from foot. 



2i2 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



single false step involved excommunication from the pale 01 
Islam, and though the slip might be condoned on proof of 
sincere repentance, any Moslem who had once committed a 
mortal sin (kabira) was held, by the stricter Kharijites at 
least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in everlast- 
ing fire. 

Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the 
wars of the Kharijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on 
which they quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. 
Here we can only attempt to illustrate the general character of 
the movement. We have touched on its political and religious 
aspects, and shall now conclude with some reference to its 
literary side. The Kharijites did not produce a Milton or 
a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural 
gift of song, from which they could not be 

poetry. 6 weaned ; although, according to the strict letter 
of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention 
improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these 
are poems of a different order from the pagan odes, and 
breathe a stern religious enthusiasm that would have 
gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for example, the follow- 
ing verses, which were made by a Kharijite in prison : — 1 

" Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself 
To God, that he should arise and saddle amain. 
Fools ! in the land of miscreants will ye abide, 
To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain ? 
O would that I were among you, armed in mail, 
On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again ! 
And would that I were among you, fighting your foes, 
That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain ! 
It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased 
Like beasts, while I cannot draw on the wretches profane 
My sword, nor see them scattered by noble knights 
Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain, 



1 Tabari, ii, 36, 11. 7, 8, 11-16. 



THE KHARIJITES 213 



But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew 
Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain. 
Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged, 
While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain." 

Qatan b. al-Fujd'a, the intrepid Kharijite leader who routed 
army after army sent against him by Hajjaj, sang almost as 
well as he fought. The verses rendered below 
S-Fujk^'. are included in the Hamasa 1 and cited by Ibn 
Khallikan, who declares that they would make 
a brave man of the greatest coward in the world. " I 
know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them ; 
they could only have proceeded from a spirit that scorned 
disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of valour." 2 

" I say to my soul dismayed — 
( Courage ! Thou canst not achieve, 
With praying, an hour of life 
Beyond the appointed term. 
Then courage on death's dark field, 
Courage ! Impossible 'tis 
To live for ever and aye. 
Life is no hero's robe 
Of honour : the dastard vile 
Also doffs it at last.'" 

The murder of 'Uthm&n broke the Moslem community, 
which had hitherto been undivided, into two shi'as, or parties 
— one for 'All and the other for Mu'awiya. When 

TheShi'ites. . J 

the latter became Caliph he was no longer a party 
leader, but head of the State, and his shPa ceased to exist. 
Henceforth ' the Shi'a ' par excellence was the party of 'All, 
which regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate 
heirs to the succession. Not content, however, with uphold- 

1 Hamasa, 44. 

2 Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wiistenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, 1. 4 seq. ; De Slane's 
translation, vol. ii, p. 523. 



214 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 

ing 'AH, as the worthiest of the Prophet's Companions and the 
duly elected Caliph, against his rival, Mu'awiya, the bolder 

spirits took up an idea, which emerged about 
Svine e Righ°t f this time, that the Caliphate belonged to 'AH 

and his descendants by Divine right. Such is 
the distinctive doctrine of the Shi'ites to the present day. It 
is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where the 
Sas&nian kings used to assume the title of c god ' (Pahlavl 
bagh) and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the 
Divine majesty. 



"Although the Shi'ites,'' says Dozy, "often found themselves 
under the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order 

to gain some personal end, they were nevertheless a 
D of?teSigfn nt Persian sect at bottom; and it is precisely here that 

the difference most clearly showed itself between the 
Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian race, accustomed 
to slavish submission. For the Persians, the principle of electing 
the Prophet's successor was something unheard of and incom- 
prehensible. The only principle which they recognised was that of 
inheritance, and since Muhammad left no sons, they thought that 
his son-in-law 'All should have succeeded him, and that the 
sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the 
Caliphs except f Ali — i.e., Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, as well 
as the Umayyads — were in their eyes usurpers to whom no 
obedience was due. The hatred which they felt for the Govern- 
ment and for Arab rule confirmed them in this opinion ; at the 
same time they cast covetous looks on the wealth of their masters. 
Habituated, moreover, to see in their kings the descendants of the 
inferior divinities, they transferred this idolatrous veneration to 'All 
andihis posterity. Absolute obedience to the Imam of 'All's House 
was in their eyes the most important duty ; if that were fulfilled all 
the rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without 
scruple. For them the Imam was everything ; he was God made 
man. A servile submission accompanied by immorality was the 
basis of their system." 1 



1 Dozy, Essai sur Vhistoire de Vhlamisme (French translation by Victor 
Chauvin), p. 219 sqq. 



THE SHPlTES 



Now, the SM'ite theory of Divine Right certainly har- 
monised with Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian 
origin ? On the contrary, it seems first to have 

The Saba'ites. ,° J A . , 

arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the 
Saba'ites, whose founder, 'Abdullah b. Saba (properly, Saba'), 
was a native of San'a in Yemen, and is said to have been a 
Jew. 1 In 'Uthman's time he turned Moslem and became, 
apparently, a travelling missionary. " He went from place to 
place," says the historian, " seeking to lead the Moslems into 
error." 2 We hear of him in the Hijaz, then in Basra and Kufa, 
then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, wh'ere he preached 
the doctrine of palingenesis (raj'a). " It is strange indeed," he 

exclaimed, " that any one should believe in the 
D ib C nSaba 0f return of Jesus (as Messias), and deny the return 

of Muhammad, which God has announced 
(Kor. xxviii, 85). 3 Furthermore, there are a thousand 
Prophets, every one of whom has an executor (wasi), and 
the executor of Muhammad is 'Alf.4 Muhammad is the last 
of the Prophets, and 'AH is the last of the executors." Ibn 
Sab£, therefore, regarded Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthm&n as 
usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour 
of 'AH, and carried on a secret correspondence with the 
disaffected in various provinces of the Empire. 5 According 

1 Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the Shi'ites are derived from 
Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the Saba'ites 
in his most instructive paper, to which I have already referred, Die 
religids-politischcn Opposiiionspartcien im alten Islam {Abh. dcr Konig. 
Ges. dcr Wissenscliaftcn zu Gottingcn, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, 1901), p. 89 sqq. 

2 Tabari, i, 2942, 2. 

3 " Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee {i.e., for 
Muhammad) will bring thee back to a place of return " {i.e., to Mecca). 
The ambiguity of the word meaning ' place of return ' [tna'dd) gave 
some colour to Ibn Saba's contention that it alluded to the return of 
Muhammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is 
reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the 
Resurrection. 

4 This is a Jewish idea. 'All stands in the same relation to Muhammad 
as Aaron to Moses. s Tabari, loc. tit 



216 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



to Shahrastdnf, he was banished by *Alf for saying, " Thou 
art thou " {anta anta\ i.e., " Thou art God." 1 This refers 
to the doctrine taught by Ibn Sabd and the extreme Shi'ites 
(Ghuldt) who derive from him, that the Divine Spirit which 
dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to 
another was transfused, at Muhammad's death, into 'AH, and 
from 'Alf into his descendants who succeeded him -in the 
Imamate. The Saba'ites also held that the Imam might suffer 
a temporary occultation (ghayba), but that one day he would 
return and fill the earth with justice. They believed the 
millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of Imams 
was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir 
(f 723 a.d.) says : — 

" Four complete are the Imams of Quraysh, the lords of Right : 
( Ali and his three good sons, each of them a shining light. 
One was faithful and devout ; Karbala hid one from sight ; 
One, until with waving flags his horsemen he shall lead to 

fight, 

Dwells on Mount Radwa, con- honey he drinks and water 
cealed : bright." 2 

The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the Shi'ites, but was 
brought into Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian 
converts, and soon established itself as a part of Muhammadan 
belief. Traditions ascribed to the Prophet began to circulate, 
declaring that the approach of the Last Judgment would be 
heralded by a time of tumult and confusion, by the return of 

Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist (al-Dajjdl), 
or h Messiah! and finally by the coming of the Mahdi, i.e., 

c the God-guided one,' who would fill the earth 
with justice even ,as it was then filled with violence and 
iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer descended from the 

1 Shahrastani, ed. by Cureton, p. 132, 1. 15. 

2 Aghdnt, viii, 32, 1. 17 sqq. The three sons of 'All are Hasan, Husayn, 
and Muhammad Ibnu '1-Hanafiyya. 



THE SHPlTES 



217 



Prophet runs through the whole history of the ShI'a. As 
we have seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the Imams of 
'All's House, each of whom transmitted his authority to his 
successor. In the course of time disputes arose as to the 
succession. One sect acknowledged only seven legitimate 
Imams, while another carried the number to twelve. The 
last Imam of the ' Seveners ' [al-SabHyya)^ who are com- 
monly called Isma'ilis, was Muhammad b. Ismd'fl, and of the 
c Twelvers ' {al-Ithna-ashariyyd) Muhammad b. al-Hasan. 1 
Both those personages vanished mysteriously about 770 and 
870 a.d., and their respective followers, refusing to believe 
that they were dead, asserted that their Imam had withdrawn 
himself for a season from mortal sight, but that he would 
surely return at last as the promised Mahdf. It would take a 
long while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who 
have claimed this title. 2 Two of them founded the Fdtimid 
and Almohade dynasties, which we shall mention elsewhere, 
but they generally died on the gibbet or the battle-field. The 
ideal which they, so to speak, incarnated did not perish with 
them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely appointed revolution 
which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher in a 
Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never 
known, is a present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well 
weighed by those who doubt the possibility of an Islamic 
Reformation. 

The Shi € a began as a political faction, but it could not 
remain so for any length of time, because in Islam politics 
always tend to take religious ground, just as the successful 
religious reformer invariably becomes a ruler. The Saba'ites 
furnished the Shf'ite movement with a theological basis ; and 

1 Concerning the origin of these sects see Professor Browne's Lit. Hist, 
of Persia, vol. i, p. 295 seq. 

2 See Darmesteter's interesting essay, Le Mahdi depnis les origines de 
V Islam jusqita nos jours (Paris, 1885). The subject is treated more scien- 
tifically by Snouck Hurgronje in his paper Der Mahdi, reprinted from the 
Revue coloniale international (1886). 



2l8 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



the massacre of Husayn, followed by Mukhtir's rebellion, 
supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a 
few years after the death of Husayn his grave at 
gatherings at Karbala was already a place of pilgrimage for the 
Karbaia. SM < ites> When the c Penitents ' (al-TawwMn) 
revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their voices 
simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that 
He would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's 
grandson in his hour of need. " O God ! " exclaimed their 
chief, " have mercy on Husayn, the Martyr and the son of a 
Martyr, the Mahdi and the son of a Mahdi', the Siddiq and 
the son of a Siddiq ! 1 O God ! we bear witness that we follow 
their religion and their path, and that we are the foes of their 
slayers and the friends of those who love them." 2 Here is the 
germ of the trfziyas, or Passion Plays, which are acted every 
year on the 10th of Muharram, wherever Shi'ites are to be 
found. 

But the Moses of the SM'a, the man who showed them the 
way to victory although he did not lead them to it, is un- 
doubtedly Mukhtdr. He came forward in the 
name of c Alf s son, Muhammad, generally known 
as Ibnu 'l-Hanafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the 
support of the Arabian Shi'ites, properly so called, who were 
devoted to 'All and his House, and laid no stress upon the 
circumstance of descent from the Prophet, whereas the 
Persian adherents of the Shi c a made it a vital matter, and held 
accordingly that only the sons of 'All by his wife F&tima were 
fully qualified Imams. Raising the cry of vengeance for 
Husayn, Mukhtar carried this party also along with him. In 
686 he found himself master of Kufa. Neither the result of 
his triumph nor the rapid overthrow of his power concerns us 

1 Siddiq means ' veracious.' Professor Bevan remarks that in this root 
the notion of 'veracity' easily passes into that of 'endurance,' 'fortitude.' 

2 Taban, ii, 546. These ' Penitents ' were free Arabs of Kufa, a fact 
which, as Wellhausen has noticed, would seem to indicate that the 
ta'ziya is Semitic in origin. 



THE SHPITES 



219 



here, but something must be said about the aims and character 
of the movement which he headed. 



" More than half the population of Kufa was composed of Mawdli 
(Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They 

were mostly Persians in race and language ; they 
T of iota? W had come to Kuf a as prisoners of war and had there 

passed over to Islam : then they were manumitted by 
their owners and received as clients into the Arab tribes, so that 
they now occupied an ambiguous position (Zwitterstellung), being 
no longer slaves, but still very dependent on their patrons ; needing 
their protection, bound to their service, and forming their retinue in 
peace and war. In these Mawdli, who were entitled by virtue of 
Islam to more than the ' dominant Arabism ' allowed them, the hope 
now dawned of freeing themselves from clientship and of rising to 
full and direct participation in the Moslem state." 1 

Mukhtir, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted 
the Mawdli and treated them as equals, a proceeding which 

was bitterly resented by the privileged class. 
the k AfaS\ "You have taken away our clients who are the 

booty which God bestowed upon us together with 
this country. We emancipated them, hoping to receive the 
Divine recompense and reward, but you would not rest until 
you made them sharers in our booty." 2 Mukhtar was only 
giving the Mawdli their due — they were Moslems and had 
the right, as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty 
Arabs, however, it appeared a monstrous thing that the 
despised foreigners should be placed on the same level with 
themselves. Thus Mukhtar was thrown into the arms of the 

Mawdli^ and the movement now became not so 
on the Shi'a. : much anti-Umayyad as anti-Arabian. Here is 

the turning-point in the history of the Shi'a. Its 
ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with 
the extreme doctrines of the Saba'ites which have been 



1 Wellhausen, Die religios-politischcn Oppositionsparteien, p. 79. 

2 Tabari, ii, 650, 1. 7 sqq. 



220 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



sketched above, and animated by the intense hatred of a down- 
trodden people towards their conquerors and oppressors. 
Consequently the Shf c a assumed a religious and enthusiastic 
character, and struck out a new path which led it farther and 
farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of ' Interpre- 
tation ' (Ta'wil) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant 
ideas. One of the principal Shi'ite sects, the Hashimiyya, held 
that " there is an esoteric side to everything external, a spirit 
to every form, a hidden meaning {ta'wil) to every revelation, 
and to every similitude in this world a corresponding reality in 
the other world ; that C AH united in his own person the 
knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son 
Muhammad Ibnu 'l-Hanafiyya, who passed it on to his son 
Abu Hashim ; and that the possessor of this universal know- 
ledge is the true Imam." 1 So, without ceasing to be Moslems 
in name, the Shi'ites transmuted Islam into whatever shape 
they pleased by virtue of a mystical interpretation based on the 
infallible authority of the House of Muhammad, and out of the 
ruins of a political party there gradually arose a great religious 
organisation in which men of the most diverse opinions could 
work together for deliverance from the Umayyad yoke. The 
first step towards this development was made by Mukhtar, a 
versatile genius who seems to have combined the parts of 
political adventurer, social reformer, prophet, and charlatan. 
He was crushed and his Persian allies were decimated, but the 
seed which he had sown bore an abundant harvest when, sixty 
years later, Abu Muslim unfurled the black standard of the 
'Abbasids in Khurasan. 

Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in 
Islam, the Murjites and the Mu'tazilites, we possess too little 
contemporary evidence to make a positive statement. It is 
probable that the latter at any rate arose, as Von Kremer 
has suggested, under the influence of Greek theologians, 
1 Shahrastani, Haarbriicker's translation, Part I, p. 169. 



THE MURJITES 221 

especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore Abucara 
(Abu Qurra), the Bishop of Harran. 1 Christians were freely 

admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian 
thcoiogSS^cts. al-Akhtal was poet-laureate, while many of his 

co-religionists held high offices in the Government. 
Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly discussion 
or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of 
Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too 
well, the Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of 
Islam. 

The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no 
one who professed to believe in the One God could be 
declared an infidel, whatever sins he might 
TheMurjites. commit> unt ;i God Himself had given judgment 

against him. 2 The Murjites were so called because they 
deferred (arjcfa = to defer) their decision in such cases and 
left the sinner's fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.3 
This principle they applied in different ways. For example, 
they refused to condemn 'AH and 'Uthman outright, as the 
Kharijites did. "Both 'AH and 'Uthman," they said, "were 
servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged ; it is 
not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwith- 
standing that they rent the Moslem people asunder." 4 On 
the other hand, the Murjites equally rejected the pretensions 

1 Von Kremer, Culturgeschicht. Streifzilge, p. 2 sqq. 

2 The best account of the early Murjites that has hitherto appeared is 
contained in a paper by Van Vloten, entitled Irdjd {Z.D.M.G., vol. 45, 
p. 161 sqq.). The reader may also consult Shahrastam, Haarbriicker's 
trans., Part I, p. 156 sqq. ; Goldziher, Muhatnmcdanische Shidien, Part II, 
p. 89 sqq. ; Van Vloten, La domination Arabe, p. 31 seq. 

3 Van Vloten thinks that in the name 1 Murjite ' (murji') there is an 
allusion to Koran, ix, 107 : " And others are remanded [murjawna) until 
God shall decree ; whether He shall punish them or take pity on them— for 
God is knowing and wise." 

^ Cf. the poem of Thabit Qutna {Z.D.M.G., loc. cit n p. 162), which states 
the whole Murjite doctrine in popular form. The author, who was 
himself a Murjite, lived in Khurasan during the latter half of the first 
century a.h. 



222 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



made by the Shi'ites on behalf of 'All and by the Umayyads 
on behalf of Mu'awiya. For the most part they maintained 
a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government : they 
were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to 
stand up for the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they 
turned the principle of toleration against their rulers. Thus 
Harith b. Surayj and other Arabian Murjites joined the 
oppressed Mawali of Khurasan to whom the Government 
denied those rights which they had acquired by con- 
version. 1 According to the Murjite view, these Persians, 
having professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax- 
paying infidels. The Murjites brought the same tolerant 
spirit into religion. They set faith above works, emphasised 
the love and goodness of God, and held that no Moslem would 
be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. Safwan, went so 
far as to declare that faith [iman) was merely an inward con- 
viction : a man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism 
or any form of unbelief without ceasing to be a good Moslem, 
provided only that he acknowledged Allah with his heart. 2 
The moderate school found their most illustrious representative 
in Abu Hanifa (t 767 a.d.), and through this great divine — 
whose followers to-day are counted by millions— their liberal 
doctrines were diffused and perpetuated. 

During the Umayyad period Basra was the intellectual 
capital of Islam, and in that city we find the first traces of a 
sect which maintained the principle that thought 

The Mu'tazilites. , ' . . , 5 , ?. 

must be free in the search for truth, l he origin 
of the Mu'tazilites {al-MuHa%ila\ as they are generally called, 
takes us back to the famous divine and ascetic, Hasan of 
Basra (1728 a.d.). One day he was asked to give his opinion 
on a point regarding which the Murjites and the Kharijites 
held opposite views, namely, whether those who had committed 

1 Van Vloten, La domination Arabe, p. 29 sqq. 

2 Ibn Hazm, cited in Z.D.M.G., vol. 45, p. 169, n. 7. Jahm (f about 
747 a.d.) was a Persian, as might be inferred from the boldness of his 
speculations. 



THE M U l TA ZILITES 



223 



a great sin should be deemed believers or unbelievers. While 
Hasan was considering the question, one of his pupils, Wasil b. 
c Ata (according to another tradition, 'Amr b. 'Ubayd) replied 
that such persons were neither believers nor unbelievers, but 
should be ranked in an intermediate state. He then turned 
aside and began to explain the grounds of his assertion to a 
group which gathered about him in a different part of the 
mosque. Hasan said : " Wasil has separated himself from us " 
{i i ta%ala 'anna) ; and on this account the followers of Wasil 
were named 4 Mu'tazilites,' i.e., Schismatics. Although the 
story may not be literally true, it is probably safe to assume 
that the new sect originated in Basra among the pupils of 
Hasan, 1 who was the life and soul of the religious movement 
of the first century a.h. The Mu'tazilite heresy, in its 
earliest form, is connected with the doctrine of Predestination. 
On this subject the Koran speaks with two voices. Muham- 
mad was anything but a logically exact and consistent thinker. 
He was guided by the impulse of the moment, and neither he 
nor his hearers perceived, as later Moslems did, that the lan- 
guage of the Koran is often contradictory. Thus in the 
present instance texts which imply the moral responsibility of 
man for his actions — e.g., " Every soul is in pledge (with 
God) for what it hath wrought " 2 ; " Whoso does good 
benefits himself, and whoso does evil does it against himself" *3 — 
stand side by side with others which declare that God leads men 
aright or astray, as He pleases ; that the hearts of the wicked 
are sealed and their ears made deaf to the truth ; and that 
they are certainly doomed to perdition. This fatalistic view 
prevailed in the first century of Islam, and the dogma of Pre- 
destination was almost universally accepted. Ibn Qutayba, 

1 Hasan himself inclined for a time to the doctrine of free-will, but after- 
wards gave it up (Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Ma'drif, p. 225). He is said to 
have held that everything happens by fate, except sin (Al-Mu l tazilah, ed. 
by T. W. Arnold, p. 12, 1. 3 from foot). See, however, Shahrastani, Haar- 
briickers trans., Part I, p. 46. 

2 Koran, lxxiv,4i, 3 Ibid*, xli, 46. 



224 



THE UMA YYAD DYNASTY 



however, mentions the names of twenty-seven persons who held 
the opinion that men's actions are free. 1 Two among them, 
Ma'bad al-Juhanf and Abu Marwan Ghaylan, who were put to 
death by 'Abdu 'l-Malik and his son Hisham, do not appear to 
have been condemned as heretics, but rather as enemies of the 
Umayyad Government. 2 The real founder of the Mu'tazilites 
was Wasil b. 'Ata (f 748 a.d.),3 who added a second cardinal 
doctrine to that of free-will. He denied the existence of the 
Divine attributes — Power, Wisdom, Life, &c. — on the ground 
that such qualities, if conceived as eternal, would destroy the 
Unity of God. Hence the Mu'tazilites called themselves 
* the partisans of Unity and Justice ' ( Ahlu'l-tawhld wa-l-^adT) : 
of Unity for the reason which has been explained, and of 
Justice, because they held that God was not the author of evil 
and that He would not punish His creatures except for actions 
within their control. The further development of these 
Rationalistic ideas belongs to the 'Abbdsid period and will be 
discussed in a subsequent chapter. 

The founder of Islam had too much human nature and 
common sense to demand of his countrymen such mortifying 
austerities as were practised by the Jewish Essenes 
? S c°eTidsm. anc * the Christian monks. His religion was not 
without ascetic features, e.g., the Fast of Ramadan, 
the prohibition of wine, and the ordinance of the pilgrimage, 
but these can scarcely be called unreasonable. On the other 
hand Muhammad condemned celibacy not only by his personal 

1 Kitdbu 'l-Ma'drif, p. 301. Those who held the doctrine of free-will 
were called the Qadarites {al-Qadariyya), from qadar (power), which may 
denote (1) the power of God to determine human actions, and (2) the 
power of man to determine his own actions. Their opponents asserted 
that men act under compulsion (jabr) ; hence they were called the 
Jabarites {al-Jabariyya). 

2 As regards Ghaylan see Al-Mu'tazilah, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 15, 
1. 16 sqq. 

3 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 642 ; Shahrastam, 
trans, by Haarbriicker, Part I, p. 44. 



THE ASCETIC MOVEMENT 22$ 



example but also by precept. "There is no monkery in 
Islam," he is reported to have said, and there was in fact 
nothing of the kind for more than a century after his death. 
During this time, however, asceticism made great strides. It 
was the inevitable outcome of the Muhammadan conception 
of Allah, in which the attributes of mercy and love are over- 
shadowed by those of majesty, awe, and vengeance. The 
terrors of Judgment Day so powerfully described in the Koran 
were realised with an intensity of conviction which it is 
difficult for us to imagine. As Goldziher has observed, an 
exaggerated consciousness of sin and the dread of Divine punish- 
ment gave the first impulse to Moslem asceticism. Thus we 
read that Tamim al-Dari, one of the Prophet's Companions, 
who was formerly a Christian, passed the whole night until 
daybreak, repeating a single verse of the Koran (xlv, 20) — 
" Do those who work evil think that We shall make them even 
as those who believe and do good^ so that their life and death 
shall be equal? Ill do they judge!" 1 Abu '1-Darda, another 
of the Companions, used to say : " If ye knew what ye shall 
see after death, ye would not eat food nor drink water from 
appetite, and I wish that I were a tree which is lopped and 
then devoured." 2 There were many who shared these views, 
and their determination to renounce the world and to live 
solely for God was strengthened by their disgust with a 
tyrannical and impious Government, and by the almost unin- 
terrupted spectacle of bloodshed, rapine, and civil war. Hasan 
of Basra (\J2%) — we have already met him in 

Hasan of Basra. . . , , _ , ... 

connection with the Mu'tazilites — is an out- 
standing figure in this early ascetic movement, which 
proceeded on orthodox lines.3 Fear of God seized on him 
so mightily that, in the words of his biographer, "it seemed 

1 Sha'ram, Lawdqihu 7- Anwar (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 31. 2 Ibid. 

3 See Von Kremer, Herrschende Ideen, p. 52sqq. ; Goldziher, Ma terialien 
zur Entwickelungsgesch. des Sufismus {Vienna Oriental Journal, vol. 13, 
P- 35 sqq.). 

16 



226 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



as though Hell-fire had been created for him alone." 1 All who 
looked on his face thought that he must have been recently 
overtaken by some great calamity. 2 One day a friend saw him 
weeping and asked him the cause. " I weep," he replied, 
" for fear that I have done something unwittingly and 
unintentionally, or committed some fault, or spoken some 
word which is unpleasing to God : then He may have said, 
4 Begone, for now thou hast no more honour in My court, 
and henceforth I will not receive anything from thee.' "3 
Al-Mubarrad relates that two monks, coming from Syria, 
entered Basra and looked at Hasan, whereupon one said to the 
other, " Let us turn aside to visit this man, whose way of life 
appears like that of the Messiah." So they went, and they 
found him supporting his chin on the palm of his hand, while 
he was saying — " How I marvel at those who have been 
ordered to lay in a stock of provisions and have been 
summoned to set out on a journey, and yet the foremost of 
them stays for the hindermost ! Would that I knew what 
they are waiting for ! " 4 The following utterances are 
characteristic : — 

" God hath made fasting a hippodrome (place or time of training) 
for His servants, that they may race towards obedience to Him. 5 
Some come in first and win the prize, while others are left behind 
and return disappointed ; and by my life, if the lid were removed, 
the well-doer would be diverted by his well-doing, and the evil- 
doer by his evil-doing, from wearing new garments or from anoint- 
ing his hair." 6 



1 Sha'rani, Lawdqih, p. 38. 

2 Qushayri's Risdla (1287 A.H.), p. 77, 1. 10. 

3 Tadhkiratu 'l-Awliyd of Faridu'ddin 'Attar, Part I, p. 37, 1. 8 of my 
edition. 

4 Kdmil (ed. by Wright), p. 57, 1. 16. 

5 The point of this metaphor lies in the fact that Arab horses were put 
on short commons during the period of training, which usually began 
forty days before the race. 

6 Kdmil, p. 57, last line. 



HASAN OF BASRA 



227 



" You meet one of them with white skin and delicate complexion, 
speeding along the path of vanity : he shaketh his hips and clappeth 
his sides and saith, ' Here am I, recognise me ! ' Yes, we recognise 
thee, and thou art hateful to God and hateful to good men." 1 

"The bounties of God are too numerous to be acknowledged 
unless with His help, and the sins of Man are too numerous for him 
to escape therefrom unless God pardon them." 2 

" The wonder is not how the lost were lost, but how the saved 
were saved." 3 

" Cleanse ye these hearts (by meditation and remembrance of 
God), for they are quick to rust ; and restrain ye these souls, for 
they desire eagerly, and if ye restrain them not, they will drag you 
to an evil end." 4 

The Sufis, concerning whom we shall say a few words 
presently, claim Hasan as one of themselves, and with justice 
in so far as he attached importance to spiritual 

Hasan of Basra . . . 

not a genuine righteousness, and was not satisfied with merely 

Sufi. b 9 . J 

external acts of devotion. "A grain of genuine 
piety," he declared, " is better than a thousandfold weight of 
fasting and prayer." 5 But although some of his sayings which 
are recorded in the later biographies lend colour to the fiction 
that he was a full-blown Sufi, there can be no doubt that his 
mysticism — if it deserves that name — was of the most moderate 
type, entirely lacking the glow and exaltation which we find 
in the saintly woman, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya, with whom legend 
associates him. 6 

The origin of the name ' Sufi ' is explained by the Sufis 
themselves in many different ways, but of the derivations 

1 Kdmil, p. 58, 1. 14. 2 Ibid., p. 67, 1. 9. 

3 Ibid., p. 91, 1. 14. 4 Ibid., p. 120, 1. 4. 

s Qushayri's Risdla, p. 63, last line. 

6 It is noteworthy that Qushayri (t 1073 a.d.), one of the oldest authori- 
ties on Sufiism, does not include Hasan among the Sufi Shaykhs whose 
biographies are given in the Risdla (pp. 8-35), and hardly mentions him 
above half a dozen times in the course of his work. The sayings of 
Hasan which he cites are of the same character as those preserved in the 
Kdmil. 



228 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



v/hich have been proposed only three possess any claim to con- 
sideration, viz., those which connect it with acxpog (wise) or 
with safd (purity) or with suf (wool). 1 The 

The derivation n • j • -ui v • j 

of -Sufi.' nrst two are inadmissible on linguistic grounds, 
into which we need not enter, though it may be 
remarked that the derivation from safd is consecrated by the 
authority of the Sufi Saints, and is generally accepted in the 
East. 2 The reason for this preference appears in such defini- 
tions as " The Sufi is he who keeps his heart pure (sdfl) with 
God," 3 "Sufiism is 'the being chosen for purity' (istifd) : 
whoever is thus chosen and made pure from all except God 
is the true Sufi." 4 Understood in this sense, the word had a 
lofty significance which commended it to the elect. Never- 
theless it can be tracked to a quite humble source. Woollen 
garments were frequently worn by men of ascetic life in the 
early times of Islam in order (as Ibn Khaldun says) that they 
might distinguish themselves from those who affected a more 
luxurious fashion of dress. Hence the name 'Sufi,' which 
denotes in the first instance an ascetic clad in wool (suf), just 
as the Capuchins owed their designation to the hood (cappuccio) 
which they wore. According to Qushayri, the term came 
into common use before the end of the second century of the 
Hijra (=815 a.d.). By this time, however, the ascetic move- 
ment in Islam had to some extent assumed a new character, 
and the meaning of 4 Sufi,' if the word already existed, must 
have undergone a corresponding change. It seems to me not 
unlikely that the epithet in question marks the point of 

1 See Noldeke's article, « Sufi; in Z.D.M.G., vol. 48, p. 45. 

2 An allusion to safd occurs in thirteen out of the seventy definitions of 
Sufi and Sufiism (Tasawwuf) which are contained in the Tadhkiratu 
'l-Awliyd, or ' Memoirs of the Saints/ of the well-known Persian mystic, 
Fandu'ddm 'Attar (f circa 1230 a.d.), whereas suf is mentioned only 
twice. 

3 Said by Bishr al-Hafi (the bare-footed), who died in 841-842 a.d. 

4 Said by Junayd of Baghdad (f 909-910 A.D.), one of the most celebrated 
Sufi Shaykhs. 



EARLY S&FIISM 



229 



departure from orthodox asceticism and that, as Jimi states, 
it was first applied to Abu Hashim of Kufa (pb, before 800 a.d.), 

who, in defiance of the Prophet's injunction, 
Th o?SuS, ngs founded a monastery (Khdnaqdh) for Sufis at Ramla 

in Palestine. Be that as it may, the distinction 
between asceticism (zuhd) and Sufiism — a distinction which 
answers, broadly speaking, to the via purgativa and the via 
illuminativa of Western mediaeval mysticism — begins to show 
itself before the close of the Umayyad period, and rapidly 
develops in the early 'Abbasid age under the influence of 
foreign ideas and, in particular, of Greek philosophy. Leaving 
this later development to be discussed in a subsequent chapter, 
we shall now briefly consider the origin of Sufiism properly so 
called and the first manifestation of the peculiar tendencies on 
which it is based. 

As regards its origin, we cannot do better than quote the 
observations with which Ibn Khaldun (f 1406 a.d.) intro- 
duces the chapter on Sufiism in the Prolegomena to his great 
historical work : — 

"This is one of the religious sciences which were born in Islam. 
The way of the Sufis was regarded by the ancient Moslems and 
ibn Khaidun's their illustrious men — the Companions of the Prophet 
account of the (al-Sah&ba), the Successors (al-Tdbi'un), and the 

origin of Sufiism. **,. ,., \, (, e 

generation which came alter them — as the way of 
Truth and Salvation. To be assiduous in piety, to give up all else 
for God's sake, to turn away from worldly gauds and vanities, to 
renounce pleasure, wealth, and power, which are the general 
objects of human ambition, to abandon society and to lead in 
seclusion a life devoted solely to the service of God —these were the 
fundamental principles of Sufiism which prevailed among the 
Companions and the Moslems of old time. When, however, in 
the second generation and afterwards worldly tastes became widely 
spread, and men no longer shrank from such contamination, those 
who made piety their aim were distinguished by the title of Sufis 
or Mutasawwifa (aspirants to Sufiism). 1 



1 Ibn Khaidun's Muqaddima (Beyrout, 1900), p. 467 = vol. iii, p. 85 seq. 
of the French translation by De Slane. The same things are said at greater 



230 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



From this it is clear that Stifiism, if not originally identical 
with the ascetic revolt of which, as we have seen, Hasan of 
Basra was the most conspicuous representative, 

The earliest form * r 1 t 

ofSufiism. at any rate arose out or that movement. It was 
not a speculative system, like the Mu'tazilite 
heresy, but a practical religion and rule of life. " We derived 
Stifiism," said Junayd, " from fasting and taking leave of the 
world and breaking familiar ties and renouncing what men 
deem good ; not from disputation " (qll wa-qdl). 1 The oldest 
Sufis were ascetics and hermits, but they were also something 
more. They brought out the spiritual and mystical element in 
Islam, or brought it in, if they did not find it there already. 

" Surnsm," says Suhrawardi', 2 " is neither * poverty ' (faqr) 
nor asceticism [%uhd\ but a term which comprehends the ideas 
of both, together with something besides. With- 
Th between nce out tne se superadded qualities a man is not a Stiff, 
andfSm. though he may be an ascetic [%ahid) or a fakir 
{faqir). It is said that, notwithstanding the ex- 
cellence of 'poverty,' the end thereof is only the beginning 
of Sufiism." A little further on he explains the difference 
thus : — 

" The fakir holds fast to his ' poverty ' and is profoundly con- 
vinced of its superior merit. He prefers it to riches because he 
longs for the Divine recompense of which his faith assures him . . . 
and whenever he contemplates the everlasting reward, he abstains 
from the fleeting joys of this world and embraces poverty and 
indigence and fears that if he should cease to be 'poor ' he will lose 
both the merit and the prize. Now this is absolutely unsound 
according to the doctrine of the Sufis, because he hopes for recom- 
pense and renounces the world on that account, whereas the Sufi does 
not renounce it for the sake of promised rewards but, on the contrary, 



length by Suhrawardi in his i Awdrifu 'l-Ma'drif (printed on the margin 
of Ghazali's Ihyd, Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. i, p. 172 et seqq. Cf. also the 
passage from Qushayri translated by Professor E. G. Browne on 
pp. 297-298 of vol. i. of his Literary History of Persia. 

1 Suhrawardi, loc. cit, p. 136 seq. 2 hoc. cit, p. 145. 



EARLY S&FIISM 



231 



for the sake of present ' states,' for he is the ' son of his time.' ... 1 
The theory that ' poverty ' is the foundation of Sufiism signifies that 
the diverse stages of Sufiism are reached by the road of ' poverty ' ; 
it does not imply that the Sufi is essentially a fakir." 

The keynote of Sufiism is disinterested, selfless devotion, 
in a word, Love. Though not wholly strange, this idea 
was very far from being familiar to pious Muhammadans, 
who were more deeply impressed by the power and ven- 
geance of God than by His goodness and mercy. The 
Koran generally represents Allah as a stern, unapproach- 
able despot, requiring utter submission to His arbitrary will, 
but infinitely unconcerned with human feelings and aspira- 
tions. Such a Being could not satisfy the religious instinct, 
and the whole history of Sufiism is a protest against the 
unnatural divorce between God and Man which this concep- 
tion involves. Accordingly, I do not think that we need look 
beyond Islam for the origin of the Sufi doctrines, although it 
would be a mistake not to recognise the part which Christian 
influence may have had in shaping their early development. 
The pantheistic tendency with which they gradually became 
imbued, and which in the course of time completely transformed 
them, was more or less latent during the Umayyad period and 
for nearly a century after the accession of the House of 
'Abbas. The early Sufis are still on orthodox ground : their 
relation to Islam is not unlike that of the 
The early .ufis. m ^ XY2 ^ Spanish mystics to the Roman Catholic 
Church. They attach extraordinary value to certain points 
in Muhammad's teaching and emphasise them so as to leave 
the others almost a dead letter. They do not indulge in 
extravagant speculation, but confine themselves to matters 
bearing on practical theology. Self-abandonment, rigorous 
self-mortification, fervid piety, and quietism carried to the 
* verge of apathy form the main features of their creed. 

1 I.e., he yields himself unreservedly to the spiritual ' states ' {ahwdl) 
which pass over him, according as God wills. 



232 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



A full and vivid picture of early Sufiism might be drawn 
from the numerous biographies in Arabic and Persian, which 
supply abundant details concerning the manner 
I ^J^ b - of life of these Muhammadan Saints, and faith- 
fully record their austerities, visions, miracles, 
and sayings. Here we have only space to add a few lines 
about the most important members of the group — Ibrahim 
b. Adham, Abu 'All Shaqiq, Fudayl b. 'Iyad, and Rabi'a — 
all of whom died between the middle and end of the second 
century after the Flight (767-815 a.d.). Ibrahim belonged 
to the royal family of Balkh. Forty scimitars of gold and 
forty maces of gold were borne in front of him and behind. 
One day, while hunting, he heard a voice which cried, 
" Awake ! wert thou created for this ? " He exchanged 
his splendid robes for the humble garb and felt cap of a 
shepherd, bade farewell to his kingdom, and lived for nine 
years in a cave near Naysabur. 1 His customary prayer 
was, " O God, uplift me from the shame of disobedience 
to the glory of submission unto Thee ! " 

"O God !" he said, "Thou knowest that the Eight Paradises are 
little beside the honour which Thou hast done unto me, and beside 
Thy love, and beside Thy giving me intimacy with the praise of Thy 
name, and beside the peace of mind which Thou hast given me 
when I meditate on Thy majesty." And again: "You will not 
attain to righteousness until you traverse six passes ('aqabdf) : the 
first is that you shut the door of pleasure and open the door of 
hardship ; the second, that you shut the door of eminence and open 
the door of abasement ; the third, that you shut the door of ease and 
open the door of affliction ; the fourth, that you shut the door of 
sleep and open the door of wakefulness ; the fifth, that you shut the 
door of riches and open the door of poverty ; and the sixth, that 
you shut the door of expectation and open the door of making your- 
self ready for death." 



1 Possibly Ibrahim was one of the Shikaftiyya or ' Cave-dwellers ' of 
Khurasan {shikaft means ' cave ' in Persian), whom the people of Syria 
called al-JuHyya, i.e., 'the Fasters.' See Suhrawardi, loc. cit, p. 171. 



THE OLDEST StfFfS 



233 



Shaqiq, also of Balkh, laid particular stress on the duty 
of leaving one's self entirely in God's hands {tawakkul\ a 
term which is practically synonymous with 
Sh B?Sh° f passivity ; e.g. y the mutawakkil must make no 
effort to obtain even the barest livelihood, he 
must not ask for anything, nor engage in any trade : his 
business is with God alone. One of Shaqfq's sayings was, 
"Nine-tenths of devotion consist in flight from mankind, 
the remaining: tenth in silence." Similarly, 

Fudayl b. 'Iyad. ° - . V 

Fudayl b. 'Iyad, a converted captain of banditti, 
declared that "to abstain for men's sake from doing any- 
thing is hypocrisy, while to do anything for men's sake 
is idolatry." It may be noticed as an argument against 
the Indian origin of Stifiism that although the three 
Stiffs who have been mentioned were natives of Khurasan 
or Transoxania, and therefore presumably in touch with 
Buddhistic ideas, no trace can be found in their sayings of 
the doctrine of self-annihilation (fan&\ which plays a great 
part in subsequent Sufiism, and which Von Kremer and 
others have identified with Nirvana. We now come to a 
more interesting personality, in whom the ascetic and 
quietistic type of Sufiism is transfigured by emotion and 
begins clearly to reveal its pantheistic sympathies. Every 
one knows that women have borne a distinguished part in 
the annals of European mysticism : St. Teresa, Madame 
Guyon, Catharine of Siena, and Juliana of Norwich, to men- 
tion but a few names at random. And notwithstanding 
the intellectual death to which the majority of Moslem 
women are condemned by their Prophet's ordinance, the 
Stiffs, like the Roman Catholics, can boast a goodly number 

of female saints. The oldest of these, and by 
ai-'Adaw?yya ^ r t ^ le most re n°wned, is Rabi'a, who belonged 

to the tribe of 'Adi, whence she is generally 
called Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya. She was a native of Basra 
and died at Jerusalem, probably towards the end of the 



234 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



second century of Islam : her tomb was an object of 
pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, as we learn from Ibn 
Khallikan (t 1282 a.d.). Although the sayings and verses 
attributed to her by Sufi writers may be of doubtful 
authenticity, there is every reason to suppose that they 
fairly represent the actual character of her devotion, which 
resembled that of all feminine mystics in being inspired by 
tender and ardent feeling. She was asked : " Do you love 
God Almighty?" "Yes." "Do you hate the Devil?" 
"My love of God," she replied, "leaves me no leisure to 
hate the Devil. I saw the Prophet in a dream. He said, 
' O Rabi'a, do you love me ? ' I said, ' O Apostle of God, 
who does not love thee ? — but love of God hath so absorbed 
me that neither love nor hate of any other thing remains 
in my heart.' " Rabi'a is said to have spoken the following 
verses : — 

" Two ways I love Thee : selfishly, 
And next, as worthy is of Thee. 
'Tis selfish love that I do naught 
Save think on Thee with every thought ; 
'Tis purest love when Thou dost raise 
The veil to my adoring gaze. 
Not mine the praise in that or this, 
Thine is the praise in both, I wis." 1 

Whether genuine or not, these lines, with their mixture 
of devotion and speculation — the author distinguishes the 
illuminative from the contemplative life and manifestly 
regards the latter as the more excellent way — serve to 
mark the end of orthodox Suflism and the rise of a new 
theosophical system which, under the same name and still 
professing to be in full accord with the Koran and the 
Sunna, was really founded upon pantheistic ideas of 
extraneous origin — ideas irreconcilable with any revealed 



x Ghazali, Ihyd (Cairo, 1289 a.h.), vol. iv, p. 298. 



MUHAMMADAN POETRY 



235 



religion, and directly opposed to the severe and majestic 
simplicity of the Muhammadan articles of faith. 

The opening century of Islam was not favourable to litera- 
ture. At first conquest, expansion, and organisation, then 

civil strife absorbed the nation's energies ; then, 
nStSe un der the Umayyads, the old pagan spirit 

asserted itself once more. Consequently the 
literature of this period consists almost exclusively of poetry, 
which bears few marks of Islamic influence. I need scarcely 
refer to the view which long prevailed in Europe that 
Muhammad corrupted the taste of his countrymen by setting 
up the Koran as an incomparable model of poetic style, 
and by condemning the admired productions of the heathen 
bards and the art of poetry itself ; nor remind my readers 
that in the first place the Koran is not poetical in form (so 

that it could not serve as a model of this 
Ar h a e bfan Cl po e et?y kind), and secondly, according to Muhammadan 
Muhammad, belief, is the actual Word of God, therefore sui 

generis and beyond imitation. Again, the poets 
whom the Prophet condemned were his most dangerous 
opponents : he hated them not as poets but as propagators 
and defenders of false ideals, and because they ridiculed his 
teaching, while on the contrary he honoured and rewarded 
those who employed their talents in the right way. If the 
nomad minstrels and cavaliers who lived, as they sang, the 
free life of the desert were never equalled by the brilliant 
laureates of imperial Damascus and Baghdad, the causes of 
the decline cannot be traced to Muhammad's personal atti- 
tude, but are due to various circumstances for which he is 
only responsible in so far as he founded a religious and 
political system that revolutionised Arabian society. The 
poets of the period with which we are now dealing follow 
slavishly in the footsteps of the ancients, as though Islam 
had never been. Instead of celebrating the splendid victories 



236 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



and heroic deeds of Moslem warriors, the bard living in a 
great city still weeps over the relics of his beloved's encamp- 
ment in the wilderness, still rides away through 
Th6 poets yyad tne san( ty waste on the peerless camel, whose 
fine points he particularly describes ; and if he 
should happen to be addressing the Caliph, it is ten to 
one that he will credit that august personage with all the 
virtues of a Bedouin Shaykh. "Fortunately the imitation 
of the antique qasida, at any rate with the greatest Umay- 
yad poets, is to some extent only accessory to another form 
of art that excites our historical interest in a high degree : 
namely, the occasional poems (very numerous in almost 
all these writers), which are suggested by the mood of 
the moment and can shed a vivid light on contemporary 
history." * 

The conquests made by the successors of the Prophet 
brought enormous wealth into Mecca and Medina, and 
when the Umayyad aristocracy gained the 
usi in a the s ° ng upper hand in 'Uthman's Caliphate, these towns 
Holy cities, developed a voluptuous and dissolute life which 
broke through every restriction that Islam had imposed. 
The increase of luxury produced a corresponding refine- 
ment of the poetic art. Although music was not unknown 
to the pagan Arabs, it had hitherto been cultivated chiefly 
by foreigners, especially Greek and Persian singing-girls. 
But in the first century after the Flight we hear of several 
Arab singers, 2 natives of Mecca and Medina, who set favourite 
passages to music : henceforth the words and the melody 
are inseparably united, as we learn from the Kitdbu 9 l-Aghani 
or c Book of Songs,' where hundreds of examples are to be 
found. Amidst the gay throng of pleasure-seekers women 
naturally played a prominent part, and love, which had 

1 Brockelmann, Gesch. d. Arab. Littetatur, vol. i, p. 45. 

2 E.g., Ma'bad, Gharid, Ibn Surayj, Tuways, and Ibn 'A'isha. 



'UMAR 1BN ABf RABf l A 



237 



hitherto formed in most cases merely the conventional pre- 
lude to an ode, now began to be sung for its own sake. 
In this Peninsular school, as it may be named in contrast 
with the bold and masculine strain of the great Provincial 
poets whom we are about to mention, the palm unquestion- 
ably belongs to 'Urnar b. AW Rabi'a (t 719 a.d.), 
'Umar b. Abi the son of a rich Meccan merchant. He passed 

Rabi'a. > r 

the best part of his life in the pursuit of noble 
dames, who alone inspired him to sing. His poetry was so 
seductive that it was regarded by devout Moslems as " the 
greatest crime ever committed against God," and so charm- 
ing withal that 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas, the Prophet's cousin and 
a famous authority on the Koran and the Traditions, could 
not refrain from getting by heart some erotic verses which 
'Umar recited to him. 1 The Arabs said, with truth, that 
the tribe of Quraysh had won distinction in every field 
save poetry, but we must allow that 'Umar b. Abi Rabf'a 
is a clear exception to this rule. His diction, like that of 
Catullus, has all the unaffected ease of refined conversation. 
Here are a few lines : — 

" Blame me no more, O comrades ! but to-day 
Quietly with me beside the howdahs stay. 
Blame not my love for Zaynab, for to her 
And hers my heart is pledged a prisoner. 
Ah, can I ever think of how we met 
Once at al-Khayf , and feel no fond regret ? 
My song of other women was but jest : 
She reigns alone, eclipsing all the rest. 
Hers is my love sincere, 'tis she the flame 
Of passion kindles — so, a truce to blame ! " 2 

We have no space to dwell on the minor poets of the same 
school, al-'Arjf (a kinsman of the Umayyads), al-Ahwas, and 
many others. It has been pointed out by Dr. C. Brockelmann 

1 Kdmil of Mubarrad, p. 570 sqq. 

2 Aghdni, i, 43, 1. 15 sqq. ; Noldeke's Delectus, p. 17, last line and foil. 



238 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



that the love-poetry of this epoch is largely of popular origin ; 
e.g., the songs attributed to Jamil, in which Buthayna is 
addressed, and to Majnun — the hero of countless 
Persian and Turkish romances which celebrate 
his love for Layla — are true folk-songs such as occur in the 
Arabian Nights, and may be heard in the streets of Beyrout 
or on the banks of the Tigris at the present day. Many 
of them are extremely beautiful. I take the following 
verses from a poem which is said to have been composed 
by Jamil : — 

" Oh, might it flower anew, that youthful prime, 
And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time ! 
And might we again be blest as we wont to be, 
When thy folk were nigh and grudged what thou gavest me ! 

Shall I ever meet Buthayna alone again, 
Each of us full of love as a cloud of rain ? 
Fast in her net was I when a lad, and till 
This day my love is growing and waxing still. 

I have spent my lifetime, waiting for her to speak, 
And the bloom of youth is faded from off my cheek ; 
But I will not suffer that she my suit deny, 
My love remains undying, though all things die ! " 1 

The names of al-Akhtal, al-Farazdaq, and Jarir stand out 
pre-eminently in the list of Umayyad poets. They were men 
of a very different stamp from the languishing 
P prownces he Minnesingers and carpet-knights who, like Jamil, 
refused to battle except on the field of love. It is 
noteworthy that all three were born and bred in Mesopotamia. 
The motherland was exhausted ; her ambitious and enter- 
prising youth poured into the provinces, which now become 
the main centres of intellectual activity. 

Farazdaq and Jarir are intimately connected by a peculiar 
rivalry — " Arcades ambo — id est, blackguards both." For many 
years they engaged in a public scolding-match (muhdjdt), and 
1 Noldeke's Delectus, p. 9, 1. 11 sqq., omitting 1. 13. 



THE NAQA'ID 



239 



as neither had any scruples on the score of decency, the foulest 
abuse was bandied to and fro between them — abuse, however, 
which is redeemed from vulgarity by its literary excellence, 
and by the marvellous skill which the satirists display in 
manipulating all the vituperative resources of the Arabic 

language. Soon these 'Flytings' [Naqatd) 
Th )a™Znd °* were recited everywhere, and each poet had 
Farazdaq. thousands of enthusiastic partisans who main- 
tained that he was superior to his rival. 1 One day 
Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, the governor of Khurasan, who 
was marching against the Azariqa, a sect of the Kharijites, 
heard a great clamour and tumult in the camp. On 
inquiring its cause, he found that the soldiers had been 
fiercely disputing as to the comparative merits of Janr and 
Farazdaq, and desired to submit the question to his decision. 
" Would you expose me," said Muhallab, " to be torn in 
pieces by these two dogs ? I will not decide between them, 
but I will point out to you those who care not a whit for 
either of them. Go to the Azariqa ! They are Arabs 

who understand poetry and judge it aright." 
Ge i'n r p 1 oe^ reSt Next day, when the armies faced each other, 

an Azraqite named 'Abida b. Hilal stepped 
forth from the ranks and offered single combat. One of 
Muhallab's men accepted the challenge, but before fighting 
he begged his adversary to inform him which was the 
better poet — Farazdaq or Jarir ? " God confound you ! " 
cried 'Abida, " do you ask me about poetry instead of 
studying the Koran and the Sacred Law ? " Then he 
quoted a verse by Janr and gave judgment in his favour. 2 
This incident affords a striking proof that the taste for 
poetry, far from being confined to literary circles, was 
diffused throughout the whole nation, and was cultivated 

1 An edition of the Naqd'id by Professor A. A. Bevan is now being 
published at Leyden. 

2 Aghdm, vii, 55, 1. 12 sqq. 



2 4 o THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



even amidst the fatigues and dangers of war. Parallel 
instances occur in the history of the Athenians, the most 
gifted people of the West, and possibly elsewhere, but 
imagine British soldiers discussing Tennyson and Browning 
over the camp-fires ! 

Akhtal joined in the fray. His sympathies were with 
Farazdaq, and the naqaid which he and Jarfr composed 
against each other have come down to us. All these poets, 
like their Post-islamic brethren generally, were professional 
encomiasts, greedy, venal, and ready to revile any one who 
would not purchase their praise. Some further account of 
them may be interesting to the reader, especially as the 
anecdotes related by their biographers throw many curious 
sidelights on the manners of the time. 

The oldest of the trio, Akhtal (Ghiyath b. Ghawth) of 
Taghlib, was a Christian, like most of his tribe — they had 
long; been settled in Mesopotamia — and remained 

Akhtal. & r 

in that faith to the end of his life, though the 
Caliph 'Abdu 'l-Malik is said to have offered him a pension 
and 10,000 dirhems in cash if he would turn Moslem. His 
religion, however, was less a matter of principle than of 
convenience, and to him the supreme virtue of Christianity 
lay in the licence which it gave him to drink wine as often 
as he pleased. The stories told of him suggest grovelling 
devoutness combined with very easy morals, a phenomenon 
familiar to the student of mediaeval Catholicism. It is 
related by one who was touring in Syria that he found 
Akhtal confined in a church at Damascus, and pleaded his 
cause with the priest. The latter stopped beside Akhtal and 
raising the staff on which he leaned — for he was an aged man 
— exclaimed : " O enemy of God, will you again defame 
people and satirise them and caluminate chaste women ? " 
while the poet humbled himself and promised never to repeat 
the offence. When asked how it was that he, who was 
honoured by the Caliph and feared by all, behaved so 



AKHTAL 



241 



submissively to this priest, he answered, "It is religion, it 
is religion." 1 On another occasion, seeing the Bishop pass, 
he cried to his wife who was then pregnant, "Run after 
him and touch his robe." The poor woman only succeeded 
in touching the tail of the Bishop's ass, but Akhtal consoled 
her with the remark, " He and the tail of his ass, there's 
no difference ! " 2 It is characteristic of the anti-Islamic 
spirit which appears so strongly in the Umayyads that their 
chosen laureate and champion should have been a Christian 
who was in truth a lineal descendant of the pagan bards. 
Pious Moslems might well be scandalised when he burst 
unannounced into the Caliph's presence, sumptuously attired 
in silk and wearing a cross of gold which was suspended 
from his neck by a golden chain, while drops of 
wine trickled from his beard,3 but their protests went 
unheeded at the court of Damascus, where nobody cared 
whether the author of a fine verse was a Moslem or a 
Christian, and where a poet was doubly welcome whose 
religion enabled him to serve his masters without any 
regard to Muhammadan sentiment ; so that, for example, 
when Yazid I wished to take revenge on the people of 
Medina because one of their poets had addressed amatory 
verses to his sister, he turned to Akhtal, who branded the 
Ansdr y the men who had brought about the triumph of 
Islam, in the famous lines — 

" Quraysh have borne away all the honour and glory, 
And baseness alone is beneath the turbans of the Ansar." 4 

We must remember that the poets were leaders of public 
opinion ; their utterances took the place of political pamphlets 
or of party oratory for or against the Government of the day. 



1 Aghdni, vii, 182, 1. 25 sqq. 
3 Ibid., p. 178, 1. 1 seq. 

17 



2 Ibid., vii, 183, 1. 6 sqq. 
4 Ibid., xiii, 148, 1. 23. 



242 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



On hearing Akhtal's ode in praise of the Umayyad dynasty, 1 
'Abdu '1-Malik ordered one of his clients to conduct the 
author through the streets of Damascus and to cry out, 
" Here is the poet of the Commander of the Faithful ! Here 
is the best poet of the Arabs ! " 2 No wonder that he was 
a favourite at court and such an eminent personage that 
the great tribe of Bakr used to invite him to act as arbitrator 
whenever any controversy arose among them. 3 Despite the 
luxury in which he lived, his wild Bedouin nature pined 
for freedom, and he frequently left the capital to visit his 
home in the desert, where he not only married and divorced 
several wives, but also threw himself with ardour into the 
feuds of his clan. We have already noticed the part which 
he played in the literary duel between Janr and Farazdaq. 
From his deathbed he sent a final injunction to Farazdaq 
not to spare their common enemy. 

Akhtal is commended by Arabian critics for the number and 
excellence of his long poems, as well as for the purity, polish, 
and correctness of his style. Abu 'Ubayda put him first among 
the poets of Islam, while the celebrated collector of Pre- 
islamic poetry, Abu 'Amr b. al-'Ala, declared that if Akhtal 
had lived a single day in the Pagan Age he would not have 
preferred any one to him. His supremacy in panegyric was 
acknowledged by Farazdaq, and he himself claims to have 
surpassed all competitors in three styles, viz., panegyric, 
satire, and erotic poetry; but there is more justification for 
the boast that his satires might be recited virginibus—he 
does not add puerisque — without causing a blush.4 

Hammam b. Gh&lib, generally known as Farazdaq, belonged 
to the tribe of Tamfm, and was born at Basra towards the end 
of <U mar's Caliphate. His grandfather, Sa'sa'a, won renown 

1 Encomium Omayadarum, ed. by Houtsma (Leyden, 1878). 
8 Afghani, vii, 172, 1. 27 sqq. 3 Ibid., p. 179, 1. 25 sqq. 

4 Ibid., p. 178, 1. 26 seq. 



FARAZDAQ 



243 



in Pre-islamic times by ransoming the lives of female infants 
whom their parents had condemned to die (on account of 
which he received the title, Muhiyyu U-Maw'udat, 
Farazdaq. < He who brings the buried girls to life'), and 
his father was likewise imbued with the old Bedouin traditions 
of liberality and honour, which were rapidly growing obsolete 
among the demoralised populace of 'Iraq. Farazdaq was a 
mauvais sujet of the type represented by Francois Villon, 
reckless, dissolute, and thoroughly unprincipled : apart from 
his gift of vituperation, we find nothing in him to admire 
save his respect for his father's memory and his constant 
devotion to the House of 'All, a devotion which he scorned 
to conceal ; so that he was cast into prison by the Caliph 
Hisham for reciting in his presence a glowing panegyric on 
'AH's grandson, Zaynu 'l-'Abidm. The tragic fate of Husayn 
at Karbala affected him deeply, and he called on his com- 
patriots to acquit themselves like men — 

" If ye avenge not him, the son of the best of you, 
Then fling, fling the sword away and naught but the spindle 

piy." 1 

While still a young man, he was expelled from his native 
city in consequence of the lampoons which he directed against 
a noble family of Basra, the Banu Nahshal. Thereupon he 
fled to Medina, where he plunged into gallantry and dissipa- 
tion until a shameless description of one of his intrigues 
again drew upon him the sentence of banishment. His 
poems contain many references to his cousin Nawar, whom, 
by means of a discreditable trick, he forced to marry him 
when she was on the point of giving her hand to another. 
The pair were ever quarrelling, and at last Farazdaq con- 
sented to an irrevocable divorce, which was witnessed by 
Hasan of Basra, the famous theologian. No sooner was 



1 Aghani, xix, 34, 1. 18. 



244 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



the act complete than Farazdaq began to wish it undone, 
and he spoke the following verses : — 1 

"I feel repentance like al-Kusa'i, e 
Now that Nawar has been divorced by me. 
She was my Paradise which I have lost, 
Like Adam when the Lord's command he crossed. 
I am one who wilfully puts out his eyes, 
Then dark to him the shining day doth rise ! " 

c The repentance 01 Farazdaq,' signifying bitter regret or 
disappointment, passed into a proverb. He died a few 
months before Jarir in 728 a.d., a year also made notable 
by the deaths of two illustrious divines, Hasan of Basra and 
Ibn Sirfn. 

Jarir b. 'Atiyya belonged to Kulayb, a: branch of the same 
tribe, Tamim, which produced Farazdaq. He was the court- 
poet of Hajjdj, the dreaded governor of 'Iraq, and 
eulogised his patron in such extravagant terms as 
to arouse the jealousy of the Caliph 'Abdu '1- Malik, who 
consequently received him, on his appearance at Damascus, 
with marked coldness and hauteur. But when, after several 
repulses, he at length obtained permission to recite a poem 
which he had composed in honour of the prince, and came 
to the verse — 

"Are not ye the best of those who on camel ride, 
More open-handed than all in the world beside?" — 

the Caliph sat up erect on his throne and exclaimed : " Let 

1 Kdmil of Mubarrad, p. 70, 1. 17 sqq. 

2 Al-Kusa'i broke an excellent bow which he had made for himself. 
See The Assemblies of Hariri, trans, by Chenery, p. 351. Professor Bevan 
remarks that this half-verse is an almost verbal citation from a verse 
ascribed to 'Adi b. Marina of Hira, an enemy of 'Adi b. Zayd the poet 
{Aghdni, ii, 24, 1. 5). 



JARIR 



245 



us be praised like this or in silence ! " 1 Jarfr's fame as a 
satirist stood so high that to be worsted by him was reckoned 
a greater distinction than to vanquish any one else. The 
blind poet, Bashshar b. Burd (t 783 a.d.), said : "I satirised 
Jarir, but he considered me too young for him to notice. 
Had he answered me, I should have been the finest poet 
in the world." 2 The following anecdote shows that 
vituperation launched by a master like Jarir was a deadly 
and far-reaching weapon which degraded its victim in the 
eyes of his contemporaries, however he might deserve their 
esteem, and covered his family and tribe with lasting 
disgrace. 

There was a poet of repute, well known by the name of Ra'i '1-ibil 
(Camel-herd), who loudly published his opinion that Farazdaq was 
superior to Jarir, although the latter had lauded his tribe, the Banu 
Numayr, whereas Farazdaq had made verses against them. One 
day Jarir met him and expostulated with him but got no reply. 
Ra'i was riding a mule and was accompanied by his son, Jandal, 
who said to his father : " Why do you halt before this dog of the 
Banu Kulayb, as though you had anything to hope or fear from 
him ? " At the same time he gave the mule a lash with his whip. 
The animal started violently and kicked Jarir, who was standing by, 
so that his cap fell to the ground. Ra'i took no heed and went on 
his way. Jarir picked up the cap, brushed it, and replaced it on his 
head. Then he exclaimed in verse : — 

" Jandal / what will say Numayr of you 
When my dishonouring shaft has pierced thy sire?" 

He returned home full of indignation, and after the evening prayer, 
having called for a jar of date-wine and a lamp, he set about his 
work. An old woman in the house heard him muttering, and 
mounted the stairs to see what ailed him. She found him crawling 
naked on his bed, by reason of that which was within him ; so she 
ran down, crying " He is mad," and described what she had seen to 
the people of the house. " Get thee gone," they said, " we know 



1 Ibn Khallikan (ed. by Wustenfeld), No. 129 ; De Slane's translation 
•vol. i, p. 298. 

2 Aghdm, iii, 23, 1. 13. 



246 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



what he is at." By daybreak Jarir had composed a satire of eighty 
verses against the Band Numayr. When he finished the poem, he 
shouted triumphantly, "Allah Akbar!" and rode away to the place 
where he expected to find Ra'i '1-ibil and Farazdaq and their friends. 
He did not salute Ra'i but immediately began to recite. While he 
was speaking Farazdaq and Ra'i bowed their heads, and the rest of 
the company sat listening in silent mortification. When Jarir uttered 
the final words — 

" Cast down thine eyes for shame t for thou art of 
Numayr — no peer of Ka'b nor yet Kildb " — 

Ra'i rose and hastened to his lodging as fast as his mule could carry 
hrtti. "Saddle! Saddle!" he cried to his comrades; "you cannot 
stay here longer, Jarir has disgraced you all." They left Basra with- 
out delay to rejoin their tribe, who bitterly reproached Ra'i for the 
ignominy which he had brought upon Numayr ; and hundreds of 
years afterwards his name was still a byword among his people. 1 

Next, but next at a long interval, to the three great poets of 
this epoch comes Dhu '1-Rumma- (Ghaylan b. 4 Uqba), who 
imitated the odes of the desert Arabs with tire- 
Dhu i-Rumma. some an( j ridiculous fidelity. The philologists 
of the following age delighted in his antique and difficult 
style, and praised him far above his merits. It was said 
that poetry began with Imru'u 'l-Qays land ended with 
Dhu '1-Rumma ; which is true in the sense that he is the 
last important representative of the pure Bedouin school. 



Concerning the prose writers of the period we can make 
only a few general observations, inasmuch as their works 
have almost entirely perished. 2 In this branch 
the umayyad of literature the same secular, non-Muhammadan 
spirit prevailed which has been mentioned as 
characteristic of the poets who flourished under the Umay- 
yad dynasty, and of the dynasty itself. Historical studies 

1 Aghdni, vii, 49, 1. 8 sqq. 

3 The following account is mainly derived from Goldziher's Muhamm. 
Studien, Part II, p. 203 sqq. 



PROSE WRITERS 



247 



were encouraged and promoted by the court of Damascus. 
We have referred elsewhere to 'Abid b. Sharya, a native of 
Yemen, whose business it was to dress up the old legends 
and purvey them in a readable form to the public. Another 
Yemenite of Persian descent, Wahb b. Munabbih, is respon- 
sible for a great deal of the fabulous lore belonging to the 
domain of Awcfil (Origins) which Moslem chroniclers 
commonly prefix to their historical works. There seems to 
have been an eager demand for narratives of the Early 
Wars of Islam (maghdzl). It is related that the Caliph 
'Abdu '1-Malik, seeing one of these books in the hands of 
his son, ordered it to be burnt, and enjoined him to study 
the Koran instead. This anecdote shows on the part of 
'Abdu '1-Malik a pious feeling with which he is seldom 
credited, 1 but it shows also that histories of a legendary 
and popular character preceded those which were based, 
like the Maghdzi of Musa b. 'Uqba (t 758 a.d.) and Ibn 
Ishaq's 'Biography of the Prophet , upon religious tradition. 
No work of the former class has been preserved. The 
strong theological influence which asserted itself in the 
second century of the Hijra was unfavourable to the develop- 
ment of an Arabian prose literature on national lines. In 
the meantime, however, learned doctors of divinity began 
to collect and write down the Hadlths. We have a solitary 
relic of this sort in the Kitdbu 'l-Zuhd (Book of Asceticism) 
by Asad b. Musa (t 749 a.d.). The most renowned 
traditionist of the Umayyad age is Muhammad b. Muslim 
b. Shihab al-Zuhn (t 742 a.d.), who distinguished himself by 
accepting judicial office under the tyrants ; an act of com- 
plaisance to which his more stiff-necked and conscientious 
brethren declined to stoop. 

It was the lust of conquest even more than missionary zeal 
that caused the Arabs to invade Syria and Persia and to settle 

1 Cf. Browne's Lit. Hist, of Persia, vol. i, p. 230. 



248 



THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



on foreign soil, where they lived as soldiers at the expense of 
the native population whom they inevitably regarded as 
an inferior race. If the latter thought to win 
The Mosiems bian respect by embracing the religion of their con- 
querors, they found themselves sadly mistaken. 
The new converts were attached as clients {Mawali^ sing. 
Maw Id) to an Arab tribe : they could not become Moslems 
on any other footing. Far from obtaining the equal rights 
which they coveted, and which, according to the principles 
of Islam, they should have enjoyed, the Maw all were treated 
by their aristocratic patrons with contempt, and had to submit 
to every kind of social degradation, while instead of being 
exempted from the capitation-tax paid by non-Moslems, 
they still remained liable to the ever-increasing exactions of 
Government officials. And these 4 Clients,' be it remem- 
bered, were not ignorant serfs, but men whose culture was 
acknowledged by the Arabs themselves — men who formed 
the backbone of the influential learned class and ardently 
prosecuted those studies, Divinity and Jurisprudence, which 
were then held in highest esteem. Here was a situation 
full of danger. Against Shi'ites and Kharijites the Umayyads 
might claim with some show of reason to represent the cause 
of law and order, if not of Islam ; against the bitter cry of the 
oppressed Maw all they had no argument save the sword. 

We have referred above to the universal belief of Moslems 
in a Messiah and to the extraordinary influence of that belief 

on their religious and political history. No 
^Revliution. 116 wonder that in this unhappy epoch thousands 

of people, utterly disgusted with life as they 
found it, should have indulged in visions of c a good time 
coming,' which was expected to coincide with the end of 
the first century of the Hijra. Mysterious predictions, dark 
sayings attributed to Muhammad himself, prophecies of war 
and deliverance floated to and fro. Men pored over apocry- 



THE MAWALf OR 'CLIENTS' 249 



phal books, and asked whether the days of confusion and 
slaughter (al-harj)) which, it is known, shall herald the 
appearance of the Mahdi, had not actually begun. 

The final struggle was short and decisive. When it closed, 
the Umayyads and with them the dominion of the Arabs 
had passed away. Alike in politics and literature, the Persian 
race asserted its supremacy. We shall now relate the story 
of this Revolution as briefly as possible, leaving the results 
to be considered in a new chapter. 

While the Shi'ite missionaries (du'dt, sing. ddH) were 
actively engaged in canvassing for their party, which, as we 
have seen, recognised in 'AH and his descendants 

The 'Abbasids. , , , . . ■» . , , 

the only legitimate successors to Muhammad, 
another branch of the Prophet's family — the 'Abbasids — had 
entered the field with the secret intention of turning the 
labours of the 'Alids to their own advantage. From their 
ancestor, 'Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, they inherited those 
qualities of caution, duplicity, and worldly wisdom which 
ensure success in political intrigue. 'Abdullah, the son of 
'Abbas, devoted his talents to theology and interpretation 
of the Koran. He " passes for one of the strongest pillars 
of religious tradition ; but, in the eyes of unprejudiced 
European research, he is only a crafty liar." His descen- 
dants " lived in deep retirement in Humayma, a little place 
to the south of the Dead Sea, seemingly far withdrawn 
from the world, but which, on account of its proximity to 
the route by which Syrian pilgrims went to Mecca, afforded 
opportunities for communication with the remotest lands 
of Islam. From this centre they carried on 
propaganda in the propaganda in their own behalf with the 

Khurasan. fe 

utmost skill. They had genius enough to see 
that the best soil for their efforts was the distant Khurasan 
— that is, the extensive north-eastern provinces of the old 
Persian Empire." 1 These countries were inhabited by a 
1 Noldeke, Sketches front Eastern History, tr. by J. S. Black, p. 108 seq. 



250 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



brave and high-spirited people who in consequence of their 
intolerable sufferings under the Umayyad tyranny, the 
devastation of their homes and the almost servile condition 
to which they had been reduced, were eager to join in any 
desperate enterprise that gave them hope of relief. More- 
over, the Arabs in Khurasan were already to a large extent 
Persianised : they had Persian wives, wore trousers, drank 
wine, and kept the festivals of Nawruz and Mihrgan ; 
while the Persian language was generally understood and 
even spoken among them. 1 Many interesting details as to 
the methods of the 'Abbasid emissaries will be found in 
Van Vloten's admirable work. 2 Starting from Kufa, the 
residence of the Grand Master who directed the whole 
agitation, they went to and fro in the guise of merchants 
or pilgrims, cunningly adapting their doctrine to -the intelli- 
gence of those whom they sought to enlist. Like the 
Shi'ites, they canvassed for £ the House of the Prophet,' an 
ambiguous expression which might equally well be applied 
to the descendants of 'All or of 'Abbas, as is shown by the 
following table : — 

Hashim. 
'Abdu '1-Muttalib. 



I , I I , 

'Abdullah. Abu Talib. 'Abbas. 

Muhammad (the Prophet). 'Ali (married to Fatima, daughter of 

the Prophet). 

It was, of course, absolutely essential to the 'Abbasids that 
they should be able to count on the support of the powerful 
Shi'ite organisation, which, ever since the abortive 
join hands with rebellion headed by Mukhtar (see p. 2 1 8 supra) 
had drawn vast numbers of Persian Mawali 
into its ranks. Now, of the two main parties of the Shf'a, 

1 Wellhausen, Das Arabische Reich, p. 307. 

2 Recherches sur la domination Arabe, p. 46 sqq. 



THE 'ABB A SID PROPAGANDA 251 



viz., the Hashimites or followers of Muhammad Ibnu 
'l-Hanafiyya, and the Imamites, who pinned their faith to 
the descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fatima, 
the former had virtually identified themselves with the 
'Abbasids, inasmuch as the Imam Abu Hashim, who died 
in 716 a.d., bequeathed his hereditary rights to Muhammad 
b. 'AH, the head of the House of 'Abbas. It only remained 
to hoodwink the Imamites. Accordingly the 'Abbasid 
emissaries were instructed to carry on their propaganda in 
the name of Hashim, the common ancestor of 'Abbas and 
'All. By means of this ruse they obtained a free hand in 
Khurasan, and made such progress that the governor of that 
province, Nasr b. Sayyar, wrote to the Umayyad Caliph, 
Marwan, asking for reinforcements, and informing him that 
two hundred thousand men had sworn allegiance to Abu 
Muslim, the principal 'Abbasid agent. At the foot of his 
letter he added these lines : — 

"I see the coal's red glow beneath the embers, 

And 'tis about to blaze ! 
The rubbing of two sticks enkindles fire, 

And out of words come frays. 
'Oh! is Umayya's House awake or sleeping?' 

I cry in sore amaze." 1 

We have other verses by this gallant and loyal officer in 
which he implores the Arab troops stationed in Khurasan, who 
were paralysed by tribal dissensions, to turn their swords 
against " a mixed rabble without religion or nobility " : — 

"'Death to the Arabs' — that is all their creed." 2 

These warnings, however, were of no avail, and on 
June 9th, a.d. 747, Abu Muslim displayed the black banner 

1 Dinawari, ed. by Guirgass, p. 356. 

2 Ibid., p. 360, 1. 15. The whole poem has been translated by Professor 
Browne in his Literary History of Persia, vol. i, p. 242. 



252 THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY 



of the 'Abbasids at Siqadanj, near Merv, which city he 
occupied a few months later. The triumphant advance 

of the armies of the Revolution towards 
Declaration of D amascus recalls the celebrated campaign of 

Caesar, when after crossing the Rubicon he 
marched on Rome. Nor is Abu Muslim, though a freed- 
man of obscure parentage — he was certainly no Arab — 
unworthy to be compared with the great patrician. " He 
united," says Noldeke, " with an agitator's adroitness and 
perfect unscrupulosity in the choice of means the energy 

and clear outlook of a general and statesman, 

and even of a monarch." 1 Grim, ruthless, 
disdaining the pleasures of ordinary men, he possessed the 
faculty in which Caesar excelled of inspiring blind obedience 
and enthusiastic devotion. To complete the parallel, we may 
mention here that Abu Muslim was treacherously murdered 
by Mansiir, the second Caliph of the House which he had 
raised to the throne, from motives exactly resembling those 
which Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Brutus — 

" So Cassar may : 
Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel 
Will bear no colour for the thing he is, 
Fashion it thus : that what he is, augmented, 
Would run to these and these extremities; 
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg 
Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, 
And kill him in the shell." 



The downfall of the Umayyads was hastened by the perfidy 
and selfishness of the Arabs on whom they relied : the old 
feud between Mudar and Yemen broke out afresh, and while 
the Northern group remained loyal to the dynasty, those of 
Yemenite stock more or less openly threw in their lot with 
the Revolution. We need not attempt to trace the course 

1 Sketches from Eastern History, p. in. 



ABtf MUSLIM 



253 



of the unequal contest. Everywhere the Arabs, disheartened 
and divided, fell an easy prey to their adversaries, and all was 
lost when Marwan, the last Umayyad Caliph, sustained a 
crushing defeat on the River Zab in Babylonia (January, 
a.d. 750). Meanwhile Abu 'l-'Abbas, the head of the 
rival House, had already received homage as Caliph 
(November, 749 a.d.). In the inaugural address which he 
delivered in the great Mosque of Kufa, he called 
Abu 'l-'Abbas himself al-Saffah, i.e., i the Blood-shedder,' 1 and 
this title has deservedly stuck to him, though 
it might have been assumed with no less justice by his 
brother Mansur and other members of his family. All 
Umayyads were remorselessly hunted down and massacred 
in cold blood — even those who surrendered only on the 
strength of the most solemn pledges that they had nothing 
to fear. A small remnant made their escape, or managed 
to find shelter until the storm of fury and vengeance, 
which spared neither the dead nor the living, 2 had blown 
over. One stripling, named 'Abdu '1-Rahman, fled to North 
Africa, and after meeting with many perilous adventures 
founded a new Umayyad dynasty in Spain. 

1 Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following observations, 
points out that this translation of al-Saffdh, although it has been generally 
adopted by European scholars, is very doubtful. According to Professor 
De Goeje, al-Saffdh means 1 the munificent ' (literally, ' pouring out 1 gifts, 
&c). In any case it is important to notice that the name was given to 
certain Pre-islamic chieftains. Thus Salama b. Khalid, who commanded 
the Banu Taghlib at the first battle of al-Kulab (Ibnu '1-Athi'r, ed. by 
Tornberg, vol. i, p. 406, last line), is said to have been called al-Saffdh 
because he 1 emptied out ' the skin bottles [mazdd) of his army before a 
battle (Ibn Durayd, ed. by Wiistenfeld, p. 203, 1. 16) ; and we find mention 
of a poet named al-Saffah b. 'Abd Manat {ibid., p. 277, penult, line). 

2 See p. 205. 



CHAPTER VI 



THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



The annals of the 'Abbasid dynasty from the accession of 
SafTah (a.d. 749) to the death of Musta'sim, and the destruc- 
tion of Baghdad by the Mongols (a.d. 1258) make a round 
sum of five centuries. I propose to sketch the history of this 
long period in three chapters, of which the first will offer a 
general view of the more important literary and political 
developments so far as is possible in the limited space at my 
command ; the second will be devoted to the great poets, 
scholars, historians, philosophers, and scientists who flourished 
in this, the Golden Age of Muhammadan literature ; while in 
the third some account will be given of the chief religious 
movements and of the trend of religious thought. 

The empire founded by the Caliph 'Umar and administered 
by the Umayyads was essentially, as the reader will have 
gathered, a military organisation for the benefit of the 
paramount race. In theory, no doubt, all Moslems were 
equal, but in fact the Arabs alone ruled — a privilege which 
national pride conspired with personal interest to maintain. 
We have seen how the Persian Moslems asserted their right 
to a share in the government. The Revolution 
of the which enthroned the 'Abbasids marks the begin- 

Revolution. . . 

mng or a Moslem, as opposed to an Arabian, 

Empire. The new dynasty, owing its rise to the people of 

Persia, and especially of Khurasan, could exist only by 

254 



'ABBA SID POLICY 



255 



establishing a balance of power between Persians and Arabs. 
That this policy was not permanently successful will surprise 
no one who considers the widely diverse characteristics of the 
two races, but for the next fifty years the rivals worked 
together in tolerable harmony, thanks to the genius of 
Mansur and the conciliatory influence of the Barmecides, 
by whose overthrow the alliance was virtually dissolved. In 
the ensuing civil war between the sons of Harun al-Rasfnd 
the Arabs fought on the side of Ami'n while the Persians 
supported Ma'miin, and henceforth each race began to follow 
an independent path. The process of separation, however, 
was very gradual, and long before it was completed the 
religious and intellectual life of both nationalities had 
become inseparably mingled in the full stream of Moslem 
civilisation. 



The centre of this civilisation was the province of 'Iraq 
(Babylonia), with its renowned metropolis, Baghdad, 4 the 

City of Peace ' (Madinatu U-Saldm). Only here 
T n e ewSp'taL a could the 'Abbasids feel themselves at home. 

" Damascus, peopled by the dependants of the 
Omayyads, was out of the question. On the one hand it 
was too far from Persia, whence the power of the Abbasids 
was chiefly derived ; on the other hand it was dangerously 
near the Greek frontier, and from here, during the troublous 
reigns of the last Omayyads, hostile incursions on the part of 
the Christians had begun to avenge former defeats. It was 
also beginning to be evident that the conquests of Islam 
would, in the future, lie to the eastward towards Central 
Asia, rather than to the westward at the further expense of 
the Byzantines. Damascus, on the highland of Syria, lay, so 
to speak, dominating the Mediterranean and looking west- 
ward, but the new capital that was to supplant it must face 
east, be near Persia, and for the needs of commerce have water 
communication with the sea. Hence everything pointed to a 



256 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



site on either the Euphrates or the Tigris, and the Abbasids 
were not slow to make their choice." 1 After carefully 
examining various sites, the Caliph Mansiir fixed on a little 
Persian village, on the west bank of the Tigris, called 
Baghdad, which, being interpreted, means 
FO BagS° f 'given (or 4 founded') by God'; and in 
a.d. 762 the walls of the new city began to 
rise. Mansur laid the first brick with his own hand, and 
the work was pushed forward with astonishing rapidity under 
his personal direction by masons, architects, and surveyors, 
whom he gathered out of different countries, so that 'the 
Round City,' as he planned it, was actually finished within 
the short space of four years. 

The same circumstances which caused the seat of empire 
to be transferred to Baghdad brought about a corresponding 
change in the whole system of government. Whereas the 
Umayyads had been little more than heads of a turbulent 
Arabian aristocracy, their successors reverted to the old type 
of Oriental despotism with which the Persians had been 
familiar since the days of Darius and Xerxes. Surrounded 
by a strong bodyguard of troops from Khurasan, on whose 
devotion they could rely, the 'Abbasids ruled 
character of with absolute authority over the lives and pro- 
perties of their subjects, even as the Sasanian 
monarchs had ruled before them. Persian fashions were 
imitated at the court, which was thronged with the Caliph's 
relatives and freedmen (not to mention his womenfolk), besides 
a vast array of uniformed and decorated officials. Chief amongst 
these latter stood two personages who figure prominently in 
the Arabian Nights — the Vizier and the Executioner. The 
office of Vizier is probably of Persian origin, although in Pro- 
fessor De Goeje's opinion the word itself is Arabic. 2 The first 

1 G. Le Strange, Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate, p. 4 seq. 

2 Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following references : — 
Tabari, ii, 78, 1. 10, where Ziyad is called the Wazir of Mu'awiya ; Ibn 



THE NEW GOVERNMENT 257 



who bore this title in 'Abbasid times was Abu Salama, the 
minister of Saffah : he was called W azlru Alt Muhammad™, 
'the Vizier of Muhammad's Family.' It 

The Vizier. . _ , ' . . J . 

was the duty of the Vizier to act as inter- 
mediary between the omnipotent sovereign and his people, 
to counsel him in affairs of State, and, above all, to keep His 
Majesty in good humour. He wielded enormous power, but 
was exposed to every sort of intrigue, and never knew when 
he might be interned in a dungeon or despatched in the 
twinkling of an eye by the grim functionary presiding over 
the nat\ or circular carpet of leather, which lay beside the 
throne and served as a scaffold. 



We can distinguish two periods in the history of the 
'Abbasid House : one of brilliant prosperity inaugurated by 

Mansur and including the reigns of Mahdf, 
oT'AbtSSd 8 Harun al-Rashnd, Ma'mun, Mu'tasim, and 

Wathiq — that is to say, nearly a hundred years 
in all (754-847 a.d.) ; the other, more than four times 
as long, commencing with Mutawakkil (847-861 a.d.) 
— a period of decline rapidly sinking, after a brief interval 
which gave promise of better things, into irremediable 
decay. 1 



Sa'd, iii, 121, 1. 6 (Abu Bakr the Wazir of the Prophet). The word occurs 
in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibn Qutayba, K. al-Shi'r wa-l-Shu l ard, p. 414, 1. 1). 
Professor De Goeje adds that the 'Abbasid Caliphs gave the name Wazir 
as title to the minister who was formerly called Kdtib (Secretary). Thus 
it would seem that the Arabic Wazir (literally ' burden-bearer '), who was 
at first merely a 1 helper ' or ' henchman,' afterwards became the repre- 
sentative and successor of the Dafiir (official scribe or secretary) of the 
Sasanian kings. 

1 This division is convenient, and may be justified on general grounds. 
In a strictly political sense, the period of decline begins thirty years 
earlier with the Caliphate of Ma'mun (813-833 a.d.). The historian 
Abu '1-Mahasin (f 1469 a.d.) dates the decline of the Caliphate from the 
accession of Muktafi in 902 a.d. (al-Nujum al-Zdhira, ed. by Juynboll, 
vol. ii, p. 134). 

18 



258 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



Cruel and treacherous, like most of his family, Abu Ja'far 
Mansur was perhaps the greatest ruler whom the 'Abbasids 
produced. 1 He had to fight hard for his throne, 
R (1S-°75^r The <Alids > who de emed themselves the true 
heirs of the Prophet in virtue of their descent 
from Fatima, rose in rebellion against the usurper, surprised 
him in an unguarded moment, and drove him to such straits 
that during seven weeks he never changed his dress except for 
public prayers. But once more the 'Alids proved incapable 
of grasping their opportunity. The leaders, Muhammad and 
his brother Ibrahim, who was known as * The Pure Soul ' 
(al-Nafs al-zakiyya), fell on the battlefield. Under Mahdl 
and Harun members of the House of C AH continued to 
' come out,' but with no better success. In Eastern Persia, 
where strong national feelings interwove themselves with 
Pre-Muhammadan religious ideas, those of Mazdak and 
Zoroaster in particular, the 'Abbasids encountered a for- 
midable opposition which proclaimed its vigour 
0ut pSaf in an d tenacity by the successive revolts of Sinbadh 
the Magian (755-756 a.d.), Ustadhsis (766— 
768), Muqanna', the 4 Veiled Prophet of Khurasan' (780- 
786), and Babak the Khurramite (816-838)." 

Mansur said to his son Mahdi, " O Abu 'Abdallah, when 
you sit in company, always have divines to converse with you ; 

for Muhammad b. Shihab al-Zuhrf said, 6 The 
Ma t6MlhdL ice word bodith (Apostolic Tradition) is masculine : 
only virile men love it, and only effeminate men 
dislike it ' ; and he spoke the truth." 3 

On one occasion a poet came to Mahdf, who was then 
heir-apparent, at Rayy, and recited a panegyric in his honour. 



1 See Noldeke's essay, Caliph Mansur, in his Sketches from Eastern 
History, trans, by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq. 

2 Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these ultra- 
Shi'ite insurgents in his Lit. Hist, of Persia, vol. i, ch. ix. 

3 Tabari, iii, 404, 1. 5 sqq. 



MANS&R 



259 



The prince gave him 20,000 dirhems. Thereupon the 
postmaster of Rayy informed Mansur, who wrote to his son 
reproaching him for such extravagance. " What 
M th n e poet nd y° u should have done," he said, " was to let him 
wait a year at your door, and after that time 
bestow on him 4,000 dirhems." He then caused the poet 
to be arrested and brought into his presence. "You went 
to a heedless youth and cajoled him?" "Yes, God save 
the Commander of the Faithful, I went to a heedless, 
generous youth and cajoled him, and he suffered himself to 
be cajoled." "Recite your eulogy of him." The poet 
obeyed, not forgetting to conclude his verses with a com- 
pliment to Mansur. " Bravo ! " cried the Caliph, " but they 
are not worth 20,000 dirhems. Where is the money ? " On 
its being produced he made him a gift of 4,000 dirhems and 
confiscated the remainder." 1 

Notwithstanding irreconcilable parties — 'Alids, Persian 
extremists, and (we may add) Kharijites — the policy of 
rapprochement was on the whole extraordinarily 

The Barmecides. J, . T . ^ 

effective. In carrying it out the Caliphs re- 
ceived powerful assistance from a noble and ancient Persian 
family, the celebrated Barmakites or Barmecides. According 
to Mas'udi, 2 Barmak was originally a title borne by the High 
Priest (sddin) of the great Magian fire-temple at Balkh. 
Khalid, the son of one of these dignitaries — whence he and 
his descendants were called Barmakites (Bardmika) — held the 
most important offices of state under Saffah and Mansur. 
Yahya, the son of Khalid, was entrusted with the educa- 
tion of Harun al-Rashid, and on the accession of the young 

prince he was appointed Grand Vizier. "My 

Yahya b. Khalid. r i „ 

dear father ! said the Caliph, " it is through 
the blessings and the good fortune which attend you, and 
through your excellent management, that I am seated on the 

1 Tabari, iii, 406, 1. 1 sqq. 

3 Muruju 'l-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq. 



26o THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



throne ; 1 so I commit to you the direction of affairs." He then 
handed to him his signet-ring. Yahya, was distinguished (says 
the biographer) for wisdom, nobleness of mind, and elegance of 
language. 2 Although he took a truly Persian delight in philo- 
sophical discussion, for which purpose free-thinking scholars 
and eminent heretics used often to meet in his house, he was 
careful to observe the outward forms of piety. It may be said 
of the 'Abbasids generally that, whatever they might do or 
think in private, they wore the official badge of Islam osten- 
tatiously on their sleeves. The following verses which Yahya 
addressed to his son Fadl are very characteristic : — 3 

" Seek glory while 'tis day, no effort spare, 
And patiently the loved one's absence bear ; 
But when the shades of night advancing slow 
O'er every vice a veil of darkness throw, 
Beguile the hours with all thy heart's delight : 
The day of prudent men begins at night. 
Many there be, esteemed of life austere, 
Who nightly enter on a strange career. 
Night o'er them keeps her sable curtain drawn, 
And merrily they pass from eve to dawn. 
Who but a fool his pleasures would expose 
To spying rivals and censorious foes ? " 

For seventeen years Yahya and his two sons, Fadl and 
Ja'far, remained deep in Harun's confidence and virtual rulers 
of the State until, from motives which have been 
Barmecides variously explained, the Caliph resolved to rid 

(803A.D.). , . ./ . I , 1 r *i 

himself or the whole family. 1 he story is too 
well known to need repetition.4 Ja'far alone was put to 
death : we may conclude, therefore, that he had specially 

1 When the Caliph Hadi wished to proclaim his son Ja ! far heir-apparent 
instead of Harun, Yahya pointed out the danger of this course and dis- 
suaded him (al-Fakhri, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281). 

2 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105. 

3 Mas'udi, Muruju 'l-Dhahab, vol. vi, p. 364. 

* See, for example, Haroun Alraschid, by E. H. Palmer, in the New 
Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq. 



HARl'JN AND THE BARMECIDES 261 



excited the Caliph's anger ; and those who ascribe the 
catastrophe to his romantic love-affair with Harun's sister, 
'Abbasa, are probably in the right. 1 Harun himself seems 
to have recognised, when it was too late, how much he 
owed to these great Persian barons whose tactful adminis- 
tration, unbounded generosity, and munificent patronage of 
literature have shed immortal lustre on his reign. Afterwards, 
if any persons spoke ill of the Barmecides in his presence, he 
would say (quoting the verse of Hutay'a) : — 2 



" O slanderers, be your sire of sire bereft ! 3 
Give o'er, or fill the gap which they have left." 



Harun's orthodoxy, his liberality, his victories over the 
Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus, and last but not least the 
literary brilliance of his reign have raised him in popular 
estimation far above all the other Caliphs : he is the Charle- 
magne of the East, while the entrancing pages of the Thousand 
and One Nights have made his name a household word in every 
country of Europe. Students of Moslem history will soon 

discover that " the good Haroun Alraschid " was 
H (786^A a D.)! d m f act a perfidious and irascible tyrant, whose 

fitful amiability and real taste for music and 
letters hardly entitle him to be described either as a great 
monarch or a good man. We must grant, however, that he 
thoroughly understood the noble art of patronage. The 
poets Abu Nuwas, Abu 'l-'Atahiya, Di'bil, Muslim b. Walid, 
and 'Abbas b. Ahnaf ; the musician Ibrahim of Mosul and 
his son Ishaq ; the philologists Abu 'Ubayda, Asma'i, and 
Kisa'i ; the preacher Ibnu '1-Sammak ; and the historian 
WaqidI — these are but a few names in the galaxy of talent 
which he gathered around him at Baghdad. 



1 Cf. A. Miiller, Der Islam, vol. i, p. 481 seq. 

2 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112. 

3 Literally, " No father to your father ! " a common form of imprecation. 



262 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



The fall of the Barmecides revived the spirit of racial 

antagonism which they had done their best to lay, and an 

(A , d open rupture was rendered inevitable by the 

Ma'mun short-sighted policy of Harun with regard to 

(809-833 A.D.). . J 

the succession. He had two grown-up sons, 
Amm, by his wife and cousin Zubayda, and Ma'mun, whose 
mother was a Persian slave. It was arranged that the 
Caliphate should pass to Amm and after him to his brother, 
but that the Empire should be divided between them. Amin 
was to receive 'Iraq and Syria, Ma'mun the eastern pro- 
vinces, where the people would gladly welcome a ruler of 
their own blood. The struggle for supremacy which began 
almost immediately on the death of Harun was in the main 
one of Persians against Arabs, and by Ma'mun's triumph the 
Barmecides were amply avenged. 

The new Caliph was anything but orthodox. He favoured 
the Shi'ite party to such an extent that he even nominated 

the 'Alid, 'AH b. Musa b. Ja'far al-Rida, as heir- 
^er? s S. s apparent — a step which alienated the members of 

his own family and led to his being temporarily 
deposed. He also adopted the opinions of the Mu'tazilite sect 
and established an Inquisition to enforce them. Hence the 
Sunnite historian, Abu '1-Mahasin, enumerates three principal 
heresies of which Ma'mun was guilty : ( 1 ) His wearing of the 
Green {labsu U-Khudra) 1 and courting the 'Alidsand repulsing 
the 'Abbasids ; (2) his affirming that the Koran was created 
(al-qawl bi-Khalqi 'I-Qur'dn) ; and (3) his legalisation of the 
mut'a^ a loose form of marriage prevailing amongst the 
ShI'ites. 2 We shall see in due course how keenly and with 
what fruitful results Ma'mun interested himself in literature 
and science. Nevertheless, it cannot escape our attention 
that in this splendid reign there appear ominous signs of political 
decay. In 822 a.d. Tahir, one of Ma'mun's generals, who 

1 Green was the party colour of the 'Alids, black of the 'Abbasids. 

2 Al-Nujum al-Zdhira, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631. 



MA'MtfN 



263 



had been appointed governor of Khurasan, omitted the 
customary mention of the Caliph's name from the Friday 
sermon {khutba\ thus founding the Tahirid 
independent dynasty, which, though professing allegiance to 
d) nasties. ^ Caliphs, was practically independent. Tahir 
was only the first of a long series of ambitious governors and 
bold adventurers who profited by the weakening authority of 
the Caliphs to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Moreover, 
the Moslems of 'Iraq had lost their old warlike spirit : they 
were fine scholars and merchants, but poor soldiers. So it 
came about that Ma'mun's successor, the Caliph Mu'tasim 
(833-842 a.d.), took the fatal step of surround- 
mercenaries ing himself with a Praetorian Guard chiefly 

introduced. 

composed of Turkish recruits from Transoxania. 
At the same time he removed his court from Baghdad sixty 
miles further up the Tigris to Samarra, which suddenly grew 
into a superb city of palaces and barracks — an Oriental Ver- 
sailles. 1 Here we may close our brief review of the first and 
flourishing period of the 'Abbasid Caliphate. During the 
next four centuries the Caliphs come and go faster than 
ever, but for the most part their authority is precarious, if 
not purely nominal. Meanwhile, in the provinces of the 

Empire petty dynasties arise, only to eke out 
D cjd?phate. he an obscure and troubled existence, or powerful 

states are formed, which carry on the traditions 
of Muhammadan culture, it may be through many genera- 
tions, and in some measure restore the blessings of peace and 
settled government to an age surfeited with anarchy and 
bloodshed. Of these provincial empires we have now princi- 
pally to speak, confining our view, for the most part, to the 
political outlines, and reserving the literary and religious 
aspects of the period for fuller consideration elsewhere. 

1 The court remained at Samarra for fifty-six years (836-892 a.d.). The 
official spelling of Samarra was Surra-man-ra'd, which may be freely 
rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.' 



264 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 

The reigns of Mutawakkil (847-861 a.d.) and his immediate 
successors exhibit all the well-known features of Praetorian rule. 

Enormous sums were lavished on the Turkish 
'Abbasid Period soldiery, who elected and deposed the Caliph just 

(847-1258 A.D.). , 1 j 1 r j 1 • • • L i 

as they pleased, and enforced their insatiable 
demands by mutiny and assassination. For a short time 
(869-907 a.d.) matters improved under the able and energetic 
Muhtadi and the four Caliphs who followed him ; but the 
Turks soon regained the upper hand. From this date every 
vestige of real power is centred in the Generalissimo {Jmiru 
'l-TJmara) who stands at the head of the army, while the 
once omnipotent Caliph must needs be satisfied with the 
empty honour of having his name stamped on the coinage 
and celebrated in the public prayers. The terrorism of the 
Turkish bodyguard was broken by the Buwayhids, a Persian 
dynasty, who ruled in Baghdad from 945 to 1055 a.d. Then 
the Seljuq supremacy began with Tughril Beg's entry into the 
capital and lasted a full century until the death of Sanjar 
(1157 a.d.). The Mongols who captured Baghddd in 
1258 a.d. brought the pitiable farce of the Caliphate to 
an end. 

" The empire of the Caliphs at its widest," as Stanley Lane- Poole 
observes in his excellent account of the Muhammadan dynasties, 

nasties of the " ex ^ en< ^ e< ^ from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from 
early 'Abbasid the Caspian to the cataracts of the Nile. So vast a 
Age ' dominion could not long be held together. The first 
step towards its disintegration began in Spain, where 'Abdu 1- Rah- 
man, a member of the suppressed Umayyad family, was acknow- 
ledged as an independent sovereign in a.d. 755, and the 'Abbasid 
Caliphate was renounced for ever. Thirty years later Idris, a 
great-grandson of the Caliph 'AH, and therefore equally at variance 
with 'Abbasids and Umayyads, founded an 'Alid dynasty in 
Morocco. The rest of the North African coast was practically lost 
to the Caliphate when the Aghlabid governor established his 
authority at Qayrawan in a.d. 800." 

Amongst the innumerable kingdoms which supplanted the 



DYNASTIES OF THE PERIOD 265 



decaying Caliphate only a few of the most important can be 
singled out for special notice on account of their literary or 

religious interest. 1 To begin with Persia : in 
secondPe/iod 6 872 A.D. Khurasan, which was then held by the 

Tahirids, fell into the hands of Ya'qub b. Layth 
the Coppersmith (al-Saffdr), founder of the Saffarids, who for 
thirty years stretched their sway over a great part of Persia, 

until they were dispossessed by the Samanids. 
^•^JaSo! The latter dynasty had the seat of its power in 

Transoxania, but during the first half of the 
tenth century practically the whole of Persia submitted to the 
authority of Ismail and his famous successors, Nasr II and 
Nuh I. Not only did these princes warmly encourage and 
foster the development, which had already begun, of a national 
literature in the Persian language — it is enough to recall here 
the names of Rudagi, the blind minstrel and poet ; Daqfqf, 
whose fragment of a Persian Epic was afterwards incorporated 
by Firdawsi in his Shdhndma ; and Bal'amf, the Vizier of 
Mansur I, who composed an abridgment of Tabarl's great 
history, which is one of the oldest prose works in Persian that 
have come down to us — but they extended the same favour to 
poets and men of learning who (though, for the most part, of 
Persian extraction) preferred to use the Arabic language. 
Thus the celebrated Rhazes (Abu Bakr al-Razi) dedicated to 
the Samanid prince Abu Salih Mansur b. Ishaq a treatise on 
medicine, which he entitled al-Kitdb al-Mansuri (the Book of 
Mansur) in honour of his patron. The great physician and 
philosopher, Abu 'AH b. Sina (Avicenna) relates that, having 
been summoned to Bukhara by King Nuh, the second of that 
name (976-997 a.d.), be obtained permission to visit the 



1 My account of these dynasties is necessarily of the briefest and barest 
character. The reader will find copious details concerning most of them 
in Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia : Saffarids and Samanids 
in vol. i, p. 346 sqq. ; Fatimids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 and vol. ii, p. 196 
sqq. ; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap, ii ; and Seljuqs, ibid., chaps, iii to v. 



266 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



royal library. " I found there," he says, " many rooms rilled 
with books which were arranged in cases row upon row. One 
room was allotted to works on Arabic philology and poetry ; 
another to jurisprudence, and so forth, the books on each par- 
ticular science having a room to themselves. I inspected the 
catalogue of ancient Greek authors and looked for the books 
which I required : I saw in this collection books of which few 
people have heard even the names, and which I myself have 
never seen either before or since." 1 

The power of the Samanids quickly reached its zenith, and 
about the middle of the tenth century they were confined to 
Khurasan and Transoxania, while in Western 

(93 e 2 ?iol5A h D d ) S Persia their P lace was taken b 7 the Buwayhids. 

Abu Shujd' Buwayh, a chieftain of Daylam, the 
mountainous province lying along the southern shores of the 
Caspian Sea, was one of those soldiers of fortune whom we 
meet with so frequently in the history of this period. His three 
sons, 'All, Ahmad, and Hasan, embarked on the same adven- 
turous career with such energy and success, that in the course 
of thirteen years they not only subdued the provinces of Fars 
and Khuzistan, but in 945 a.d. entered Baghdad at the head 
of their Daylamite troops and assumed the supreme command, 
receiving from the Caliph Mustakfi the honorary titles of 
'Imadu '1-Dawla, Mu'izzu '1-Dawla, and Ruknu '1-Dawla. 
Among the princes of this House, who reigned over Persia and 
'Iraq during the next hundred years, the most eminent was 
'Adudu '1-Dawla, of whom it is said by Ibn Khallikan that 
none of the Buwayhids, notwithstanding their great power 
and authority, possessed so extensive an empire and held sway 
over so many kings and kingdoms as he. The chief poets 
of the day, including Mutanabbi, visited his court at Shlraz 
and celebrated his praises in magnificent odes. He also built 
a great hospital in Baghddd, the Bimaristin al-'Adudi, which 

1 Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, Tabaqdtu 'l-Atibbd, ed. by A. Muller, vol. ii, p. 4, 
1. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of age. 



THE BUWAYHIDS 



267 



was long famous as a school ot medicine. The Viziers of the 
Buwayhid family contributed in a quite unusual degree to its 
literary renown. Ibnu 'l- c Amid, the Vizier of Ruknu '1-Dawla, 
surpassed in philology and epistolary composition all his 
contemporaries ; hence he was called ' the second Jahiz,' and 
it was a common saying that " the art of letter-writing began 
with 'Abdu '1-Hamid and ended with Ibnu VAmfd." 1 
His friend, the Sahib Isma'il b. c Abbad, Vizier to Mu'ayyidu 
'1-Dawla and Fakhru '1-Dawla, was a distinguished savant, 
whose learning was only eclipsed by the liberality of his 
patronage. In the latter respect Sabur b. Ardashir, the prime 
minister of Abu Nasr Baha'u '1-Dawla, vied with the illustrious 
Sahib. He had so many encomiasts that Tha'alibi devotes to 
them a whole chapter of the Yatima. The Academy which 
he founded at Baghdad, in the Karkh quarter, and generously 
endowed, was a favourite haunt of literary men, and its 
members seem to have enjoyed pretty much the same privi- 
leges as belong to the Fellows of an Oxford or Cambridge 
College. 2 

Like most of their countrymen, the Buwayhids were 
Shi'ites in religion. We read in the Annals of Abu '1-Mahasin 
under the year 341 a.h. = 952 a.d. : — 

"In this year the Vizier al-Muhallabi arrested some persons 
who held the doctrine of metempsychosis (tandsukh). Among 

Zeal of the them were a youth who declared that the spirit of 
Buwayhids for 'All b. Abi Talib had passed into his body, and a 
Shute principles. woman w k c i a j mec i that the spirit of Fatima was 
dwelling in her ; while another man pretended to be Gabriel. On 
being flogged, they excused themselves by alleging their relationship 
to the Family of the Prophet, whereupon Mu'izzu '1-Dawla ordered 
them to be set free. This he did because of his attachment to 



1 'Abdu '1-Harmd flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad dynasty. 
See Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173 ; Mas'udf, Murujii 
'l-Dhahab, vol. vi, p. 81. 

2 See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to the Letters of Abu 'I-' Aid 
al-Ma'arri, p. xxiv. 



268 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



Shi 'ism. It is well known," says the author in conclusion, "that the 
Buwayhids were Shi'ites and Rafidites." 1 

Three dynasties contemporary with the Buwayhids have 
still to be mentioned : the Ghaznevids in Afghanistan, the 

Hamdanids in Syria, and the Fatimids in Egypt. 
K976^i8 a 6A e D!) 3 Sabuktagin, the founder of the first-named 

dynasty, was a Turkish slave. His son, Mahmud, 
who succeeded to the throne of Ghazna in 998 a.d., made 
short work of the already tottering Samanids, and then sweep- 
ing far and wide over Northern India, began a series of con- 
quests which, before his death in 1030 a.d., reached from 
Lahore to Samarcand and Isfahan. Although the Persian and 
Transoxanian provinces of his huge empire were soon torn 
away by the Seljuqs, Mahmud 's invasion of India, which was 
undertaken with the object of winning that country for Islam, 
permanently established Muhammadan influence, at any rate 
in the Panjab. As regards their religious views, the Turkish 
Ghaznevids stand in sharp contrast with the Persian houses of 
Saman and Buwayh. It has been well said that the true 
genius of the Turks lies in action, not in speculation. When 
Islam came across their path, they saw that it was a simple 
and practical creed such as the soldier requires ; so they 
accepted it without further parley. The Turks have always 
remained loyal to Islam, the Islam of Abu Bakr and 4 Umar, 
which is a very different thing from the Islam of Shi'ite 
Persia. Mahmud proved his orthodoxy by banishing the 
Mu'tazilites of Rayy and burning their books together with 
the philosophical and astronomical works that fell into his 
hands ; but on the same occasion he carried off a hundred 
camel-loads of presumably harmless literature to his capital. 
That he had no deep enthusiasm for letters is shown, for 

1 Abu '1-Mahasin, al-Nujiim al-Zdhira, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 333. 
The original Rafidites were those schismatics who rejected (rafada) the 
Caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Umar, but the term is generally used as synony- 
mous with Shi'ite. 



GHAZNEVIDS AND HAMDANIDS 269 



example, by his shabby treatment of the poet Firdawsi. 
Nevertheless, he ardently desired the glory and prestige 
accruing to a sovereign whose court formed the rallying-point 
of all that was best in the literary and scientific culture of the 
day, and such was Ghazna in the eleventh century. Besides 
the brilliant group of Persian poets, with Firdawsi at their 
head, we may mention among the Arabic-writing authors 
who flourished under this dynasty the historians al- c Utbi and 
al-Birum. 

While the Eastern Empire of Islam was passing into the 
hands of Persians and Turks, we find the Arabs still holding 

their own in Syria and Mesopotamia down to 
T (92^ioo 3 d i n D d )! the end of the tenth century. These Arab and 

generally nomadic dynasties were seldom of much 
account. The Hamdanids of Aleppo alone deserve to be 
noticed here, and that chiefly for the sake of the peerless 
Sayfu 'l-Dawla, a worthy descendant of the tribe of Taghlib, 
which in the days of heathendom produced the poet-warrior, 
c Amr b. Kulthum. 'Abdullah b. Hamdan was appointed 
governor of Mosul and its dependencies by the Caliph 
Muktafi in 905 a.d., and in 942 his sons Hasan and 'AH 
received the complimentary titles of Nasiru 'l-Dawla (Defender 
of the State) and Sayfu 'l-Dawla (Sword of the State). 
Two years later Sayfu 'l-Dawla captured Aleppo and brought 
the whole of Northern Syria under his dominion. During a 
reign of twenty-three years he was continuously engaged in 
harrying the Byzantines on the frontiers of Asia Minor, but 
although he gained some glorious victories, which his laureate 
Mutanabbi has immortalised, the fortune of war went in the 
long run steadily against him, and his successors were unable 
to preserve their little kingdom from being crushed between the 
Byzantines in the north and the Fatimids in the south. The 
Hamdanids have an especial claim on our sympathy, because 
they revived for a time the fast-decaying and already almost 
broken spirit of Arabian nationalism. It is this spirit that 



2jo THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



speaks with a powerful voice in Mutanabbi and declares itself, 
for example, in such verses as these : — 1 

" Men from their kings alone their worth derive, 
But Arabs ruled by aliens cannot thrive : 
Boors without culture, without noble fame, 
Who know not loyalty and honour's name. 
Go where thou wilt, thou seest in every land 
Folk driven like cattle by a servile band." 

The reputation which Sayfu '1-Dawla's martial exploits and 
his repeated triumphs over the enemies of Islam richly earned 
for him in the eyes of his contemporaries was 

The circle of , , , « . , . r 

Sayfu i-Dawia. enhanced by the conspicuous energy and munifi- 
cence with which he cultivated the arts of peace. 
Considering the brevity of his reign and the relatively small 
extent of his resources, we may well be astonished to con- 
template the unique assemblage of literary talent then 
mustered in Aleppo. There was, first of all, Mutanabbi, in 
the opinion of his countrymen the greatest of Moslem poets ; 
there was Sayfu '1-Dawla's cousin, the chivalrous Abu Firas, 
whose war-songs are relieved by many a touch of tender and 
true feeling ; there was Abu '1-Faraj of Isfahan, who on 
presenting to Sayfu '1-Dawla his Kitabu U-Aghaniy one of the 
most celebrated and important works in all Arabic literature, 
received one thousand pieces of gold accompanied with an 
expression of regret that the prince was obliged to remunerate 
him so inadequately ; there was also the great philosopher, 
Abu Nasr al-Farabf, whose modest wants were satisfied by a 
daily pension of four dirhems (about two shillings) from the 
public treasury. Surely this is a record not easily surpassed 
even in the heyday of 'Abbasid patronage. As for the writers 
of less note whom Sayfu '1-Dawla attracted to Aleppo, their 
name is legion. Space must be found for the poets San al- 
Raffa, Abu 'l- c Abbas al-Namf, and Abu '1-Faraj al-Babbagha ; 

1 Mutanabbi, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foil. 



SA YFU *L-DA WLA 



for the preacher (khatlb) Ibn Nubata, who would often rouse 
the enthusiasm of his audience while he urged the duty of 
zealously prosecuting the Holy War against Christian Byzan- 
tium ; and for the philologist Ibn Khalawayh, whose lectures 
were attended by students from all parts of the Muhammadan 
world. The literary renaissance which began at this time 
in Syria was still making its influence felt when Tha'alibi 
wrote his Tatima, about thirty years after the death of Sayfu 
'1-Dawla, and it produced in Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri (born 
973 a.d.) an original and highly interesting personality, to 
whom we shall return on another occasion. 

The dynasties hitherto described were political in their 
origin, having generally been founded by ambitious governors 
or vassals. These upstarts made no pretensions 

(909-1 171 A.D.)- 

to spiritual authority, which they left in the 
hands of the Caliph even while they forced 
him at the sword's point to recognise their political independ- 
ence. The Samanids and Buwayhids, ShHtes as they were, 
paid the same homage to the Pontiff in Baghdad as did the 
Sunnite Ghaznevids. But in the beginning of the tenth 
century there arose in Africa a great Shi'ite power, that 
of the Fatimids, who took for themselves the title and 
spiritual prerogatives of the Caliphate, which they asserted 
to be theirs by right Divine. This event was only the 
climax of a deep-laid and skilfully organised plot — one of 
the most extraordinary in all history. It had been put in 
train half a century earlier by a certain 'Abdullah the son 
of Maymun, a Persian oculist (qaddah) belonging to Ahwaz. 
Filled with a fierce hatred of the Arabs and with a free- 
thinker's contempt for Islam, 'Abdullah b. Maymun con- 
ceived the idea of a vast secret society which should be all 
things to all men, and which, by playing on the strongest 
passions and tempting the inmost weaknesses of human 
nature, should unite malcontents of every description in a 



272 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



conspiracy to overthrow the existing regime. Modern 
readers may find a parallel for this romantic project in the 
pages of Dumas, although the Aramis of Twenty Tears After 
is a simpleton beside 'Abdullah. He saw that the movement, 
in order to succeed, must be started on a religious basis, and 

he therefore identified himself with an obscure 
propaganda. Shi'ite sect, the Isma'iHs, who were so called 

because they regarded Muhammad, son of Isma'Il, 
son of Ja'far al-Sadiq, as the Seventh Imam. Under 'Abdullah 
the Isma'llis developed their mystical and antinomian doc- 
trines, of which an excellent account has been given by 
Professor Browne in the first volume of his Literary History of 
Persia (p. 405 sqq.). Here we can only refer to the ingenious 
and fatally insidious methods which he devised for gaining 
proselytes on a gigantic scale, and with such amazing success 
that from this time until the Mongol invasion — a period of 
almost four centuries — the Isma'ilites (Fatimids, Carmathians, 
and Assassins) either ruled or ravaged a great part of the 
Muhammadan Empire. It is unnecessary to discuss the 
question whether 'Abdullah b. Maymun was, as Professor 
Browne thinks, primarily a religious enthusiast, or whether, 
according to the view commonly held, his real motives were 
patriotism and personal ambition. The history of Islam 
shows clearly enough that the revolutionist is nearly always 
disguised as a religious leader, while, on the other hand, 
every founder of a militant sect is potentially the head of a 
state. 'Abdullah may have been a fanatic first and a politician 
afterwards ; more probably he was both at once from the 
beginning. His plan of operations was briefly as follows : — 

The dd'i or missionary charged with the task of gaining adherents 
for the Hidden Imam (see p. 216 seq.), in whose name allegiance was 
demanded, would settle in some place, representing himself to be a 
merchant, Sufi, or the like. By renouncing worldly pleasures, 
making a show of strict piety, and performing apparent miracles, it 
was easy for him to pass as a saint with the common folk. As soon 



THE ZSMA'fLfS 



273 



as he was assured of his neighbours' confidence and respect, he 
began to raise doubts in their minds. He would suggest difficult 
problems of theology or dwell on the mysterious significance 
of certain passages of the Koran. May there not be (he would ask) 
in religion itself a deeper meaning than appears on the surface ? 
Then, having excited the curiosity of his hearers, he suddenly breaks 
off. When pressed to continue his explanation, he declares that 
such mysteries cannot be communicated save to those who take a 
binding oath of secrecy and obedience and consent to pay a fixed 
sum of money in token of their good faith. If these conditions 
were accepted, the neophyte entered upon the second of the nine 
degrees of initiation. He was taught that mere observance of the 
laws of Islam is not pleasing to God, unless the true doctrine be 
received through the Imams who have it in keeping. These Imams 
(as he next learned) are seven in number, beginning with 'AH ; the 
seventh and last is Muhammad, son of Isma'il. On reaching the 
fourth degree he definitely ceased to be a Moslem, for here he was 
taught the Isma'ilite system of theology in which Muhammad b. 
Isma'il supersedes the founder of Islam as the greatest and last of 
all the Prophets. Comparatively few initiates advanced beyond 
this grade to a point where every form of positive religion was 
allegorised away, and only philosophy was left. " It is clear what 
a tremendous weapon, or rather machine, was thus created. Each 
man was given the amount of light which he could bear and which 
was suited to his prejudices, and he was made to believe that the 
end of the whole work would be the attaining of what he regarded 
as most desirable." 1 Moreover, the Imam Muhammad b. Isma'il 
having disappeared long ago, the veneration which sought a visible 
object was naturally transferred to his successor and representative 
on earth, viz., 'Abdullah b. Maymun, who filled the same office in 
relation to him as Aaron to Moses and 'All to Muhammad. 

About the middle of the ninth century the state or the 
Moslem Empire was worse, if possible, than it had been in the 
latter days of Umayyad rule. The peasantry of 'Iraq were 
impoverished by the desolation into which that flourishing 
province was beginning to fall in consequence of the frequent 
and prolonged civil wars. In 869 a.d. the negro slaves (Zanj) 
employed in the saltpetre industry, for which Basra was 
famous, took up arms at the call of an 'Alid Messiah, and 

1 D. B. Macdonald, Muslim Theology, p. 43 seq. 
1-9 



2;4 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



during fourteen years carried fire and sword through Khuzistan 
and the adjacent territory. We can imagine that all this 
misery and discontent was a godsend to the Isma'ilites. The 
old cry, " A deliverer of the Prophet's House," which served 
the 'Abbasids so well against the Umayyads, was now raised 
with no less effect against the 'Abbasids themselves. 

'Abdullah b. Maymun died in 875 a.d., but the agitation 
went on, and rapidly gathered force. One of the leading 
spirits was Harridan Qarmat, who gave his name to the Car- 
mathian branch of the Isma'lHs. These Carmathians ( Qaramita^ 
sing. Qirmlti) spread over Southern Persia and Yemen, and 
in the tenth century they threatened Baghdad, repeatedly 
waylaid the pilgrim-caravans, sacked Mecca and bore away 
the Black Stone as a trophy ; in short, established a veritable 
reign of terror. We must return, however, to the main 
Isma'ilite faction headed by the descendants of 'Abdullah b. 
Maymun. Their emissaries discovered a promising field of 
work in North Africa among the credulous and fanatical 
Berbers. When all was ripe, Sa'i'd b. Husayn, the grandson of 
'Abdullah b. Maymun, left Salamiyya in Syria, the centre 
from which the wires had hitherto been pulled, and 
crossing over to Africa appeared as the long-expected 
Mahdi under the name of 'Ubaydu'llah. He 

The Fatimid . J 

dynasty founded gave himself out to be a great-grandson of the 

by the Mahdi ° , t r 1 r 

'Ubayduiiah Imam Muhammad b. Isma'n and therefore in the 

(909 A.D.)- 

direct line of descent from 'All b. Abi Talib and 
Fatima the daughter of the Prophet. We need not stop to 
discuss this highly questionable genealogy from which the 
Fapmid dynasty derives its name. In 910 a.d. 'Ubaydu'llah 
entered Raqq&da in triumph and assumed the title of Com- 
mander of the Faithful, Tunis, where the Aghlabites had 
ruled since 800 a.d., was the cradle of Fatimid power, and 
here they built their capital, Mahdiyya, near the ancient 
Thapsus. Gradually advancing eastward, they conquered 
Egypt and Syria as far as Damascus (969-970 a.d.). At this 



THE FATIMIDS AND THE SELjtfQS 275 



time the seat of government was removed to the newly-founded 
city of Cairo (aUQahira\ which remained for two centuries 
the metropolis of the Fatimid Empire. 1 

The Shi'ite Anti-Caliphs maintained themselves in Egypt 
until 1 171 a.d., when the famous Saladin (Salahu '1-Din b. 

Ayyub) took possession of that country and 
(^wSSaS). restored the Sunnite faith. He soon added Syria 

to his dominions, and "the fall of Jerusalem (in 
1 187) roused Europe to undertake the Third Crusade." The 
Ayyubids were strictly orthodox, as behoved the champions of 
Islam against Christianity. They built and endowed many 
theological colleges. The Sufi pantheist, Shihabu '1-Dm Yahya 
al-Suhrawardi, was executed at Aleppo by order of Saladin's 
son, Malik al-Zahir, in 1191 a.d. 

The two centuries preceding the extinction of the 'Abbasid 
Caliphate by the Mongols witnessed the rise and decline of 

the Seljuq Turks, who " once more re-united 
( I0 37-i^Sa?d.). Muhammadan Asia from the western frontier 

of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean under one 
sovereign." Seljuq b. Tuqaq was a Turcoman chief. 
Entering Transoxania, he settled near Bukhara and went 
over with his whole people to Islam. His descendants, 
Tughril Beg and Chagar Beg, invaded Khurasan, annexed 
the western provinces of the Ghaznevid Empire, and finally 
absorbed the remaining dominions of the Buwayhids. 
Baghdad was occupied by Tughril Beg in 1055 a.d. It 
has been said that the Seljuqs contributed almost nothing to 
culture, but this perhaps needs some qualification. Although 
Alp Arslan, who succeeded Tughril, and his son Malik Shah 
devoted their energies in the first place to military affairs, the 

1 I regret that lack of space compels me to omit the further history of 
the Fatimids. Readers who desire information on this subject may 
consult Stanley Lane-Poole's History of Egypt in the Middle Ages; 
Wiistenfeld's Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen (Gottingen, 1881) ; and 
Professor Browne's Lit. Hist, of Persia, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq. 



276 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



latter at least was an accomplished and enlightened monarch. 
" He exerted himself to spread the benefits of civilisation : he 
dug numerous canals, walled a great number of cities, built 
bridges, and constructed ribap in the desert places." 1 He 
was deeply interested in astronomy, and scientific as well as 
theological studies received his patronage. Any shortcomings 
of Alp Arslan and Malik Shah in this respect were amply 
repaired by their famous minister, Hasan b. C AH, the Nizamu 
'l-Mulk or 4 Constable of the Empire,' to give him the title 
which he has made his own. Like so many great Viziers, he 
was a Persian, and his achievements must not detain us here, 
but it may be mentioned that he founded in Baghdad and 
Naysdbur the two celebrated academies which were called in 
his honour al-Nizamiyya. 

We have now taken a general, though perforce an extremely 
curtailed and disconnected, view of the political conditions 

which existed during the 'Abbasid period in most 
Ar spain and P arts °f tne Muhammadan Empire except Arabia 

and Spain. The motherland of Islam had long 
sunk to the level of a minor province : leaving the Holy 
Cities out of consideration, one might compare its inglorious 
destiny under the Caliphate to that of Macedonia in the 
empire which Alexander bequeathed to his successors, the 
Ptolemies and Seleucids. As regards the political history of 
Spain a few words will conveniently be said in a subsequent 
chapter, where the literature produced by Spanish Moslems 
will demand our attention. In the meantime we shall pass on 
to the characteristic literary developments of this period, which 
correspond more or less closely to the historical outlines. 

The first thing that strikes the student of mediaeval Arabic 
literature is the fact that a very large proportion of the leading 
writers are non-Arabs, or at best semi-Arabs, men whose fathers 

1 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441. 



FOREIGNERS WHO WROTE IN ARABIC 277 



or mothers were of foreign, and especially Persian, race. They 
wrote in Arabic, because down to about 1000 a.d. that 
language was the sole medium of literary expression in the 
Muhammadan world, a monopoly which it retained in 
scientific compositions until the Mongol Invasion of the 
thirteenth century. I have already referred to the question 
whether such men as Bashshar b. Burd, Abu Nuwas, Ibn 
Qutayba, Tabari, Ghazalf, and hundreds of others should be 
included in a literary history of the Arabs, and have given 
reasons, which I need not repeat in this place, for considering 
their admission to be not only desirable but fully justified on 
logical grounds. 1 The absurdity of treating them as Persians — 
and there is no alternative, if they are not to be reckoned as 
Arabs — appears to me self-evident. 

"It is strange," says Ibn Khaldun, "that most of the learned 
among the Moslems who have excelled in the religious or 
intellectual sciences are non- Arabs ( c Jjam) with rare excep- 
tions ; and even those savants who claimed Arabian descent 
spoke a foreign language, grew up in foreign lands, and 
studied under foreign masters, notwithstanding that the com- 
munity to which they belonged was Arabian and the author 
of its religion an Arab." The historian proceeds to explain 
the cause of this singular circumstance in an interesting 
passage which may be summarised as follows : — 

The first Moslems were entirely ignorant of art and science, all 
their attention being devoted to the ordinances of the Koran, which 
they "carried in their breasts," and to the practice 
SpSS (sunna) of the Prophet. At that time the Arabs knew 
the fact that nothing of the way by which learning is taught, of the 

learning was „ . ■. , 1 11 

chiefly cultivated art of composing books, and of the means whereby 
by Moslems 3 " knowledge is enregistered. Those, however, who 
could repeat the Koran and relate the Traditions of 
Muhammad were called Readers (qurrd). This oral transmission 
continued until the reign of Harun al-Rashld, when the need of 



1 See the Introduction. 



2;8 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



securing the Traditions against corruption or of preventing their 
total loss caused them to be set down in writing ; and in order to 
distinguish the genuine Traditions from the spurious, every isndd 
(chain of witnesses) was carefully scrutinised. Meanwhile the 
purity of the Arabic tongue had gradually become impaired : hence 
arose the science of grammar ; and the rapid development of Law 
and Divinity brought it about that other sciences, e.g., logic and 
dialectic, were professionally cultivated in the great cities of the 
Muhammadan Empire. The inhabitants of these cities were chiefly 
Persians, freedmen and tradesmen, who had been long accustomed 
to the arts of civilisation. Accordingly the most eminent of the 
early grammarians, traditionists, and scholastic theologians, as 
well as of those learned in the principles of Law and in the interpre- 
tation of the Koran, were Persians by race or education, and the 
saying of the Prophet was verified — " If Knowledge were attached to 
the ends of the sky, some amongst the Persians would have reached it." 
Amidst all this intellectual activity the Arabs, who had recently 
emerged from a nomadic life, found the exercise of military and 
administrative command too engrossing to give them leisure for 
literary avocations which have always been disdained by a ruling 
caste. They left such studies to the Persians and the mixed race 
(al-muwalladun), which sprang from intermarriage of the con- 
querors with the conquered. They did not entirely look down 
upon the men of learning but recognised their services — since after 
all it was Islam and the sciences connected with Islam that profited 
thereby. 1 

Even in the Umayyad period, as we have seen, the maxim 
that Knowledge is Power was strikingly illustrated by the 
immense social influence which Persian divines exerted in the 
Muhammadan community. 2 Nevertheless, true Arabs of the 
old type regarded these Mawali and their learning with 
undisguised contempt. To the great majority of Arabs, who 
prided themselves on their noble lineage and were content to 
know nothing beyond the glorious traditions of heathendom 
and the virtues practised by their sires, all literary culture 
seemed petty and degrading. Their overbearing attitude 

1 Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima (Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq. = De Slane, 
Prolegomena, vol iii, p. 296 sqq. 

2 Cf Goldziher, Muhamm. Studien, Part I, p. 114 seq. 



ARABS AND NON-ARABS 279 



towards the Mawd/I y which is admirably depicted in the first 
part of Goldziher's Muhammedanische Studien, met with a 
vigorous response. Non-Arabs and Moslem pietists alike 
appealed to the highest authority — the Koran ; and since they 
required a more definite and emphatic pronouncement than 
was forthcoming from that source, they put in the mouth of 
the Prophet sayings like these : " He that speaks Arabic is 
thereby an Arab " ; " whoever of the people of Persia accepts 
Islam is (as much an Arab as) one of Quraysh." This 
doctrine made no impression upon the Arabian aristocracy, but 
with the downfall of the Umayyads the political and social 
equality of the Mawali became an accomplished fact. Not 
that the Arabs were at all disposed to abate their pretensions. 
They bitterly resented the favour which the foreigners enjoyed 
and the influence which they exercised. The national in- 
dignation finds a voice in many poems of the early 'Abbasid 
period, e.g. : — • 

" See how the asses which they used to ride 
They have unsaddled, and sleek mules bestride ! 
No longer kitchen-herbs they buy and sell, 1 
But in the palace and the court they dwell ; 
Against us Arabs full of rage and spleen, 
Hating the Prophet and the Moslem's din. 2 

The side of the non-Arabs in this literary quarrel was 
vehemently espoused by a party who called themselves the 
Shu'ubites (a/-Shu ( 'ubiyya),3 while their opponents gave them 

1 Read mashdrdti 'l-buqul (beds of vegetables), not tnushdrdt as my 
rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, but 
mashdrat, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here. 

2 Aghdni, xii, 177, 1. 5 sqq ; Von Kremer, Culturgesch. Streifziige, p. 32. 
These lines are aimed, as has been remarked by S. Khuda Bukhsh 
{Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilisation, Calcutta, 1905, p. 92), 
against Nabatasans who falsely claimed to be Persians. 

3 The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13 : " Men, We have created 
you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples (shu'ub*" 1 ) 
and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you in 



28o THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



the name of Levellers (Ahlu ' " l-Taswiya)^ because they contended 
for the equality of all Moslems without regard to distinctions 
of race. I must refer the reader who seeks inform- 

The Shu'iibites. . . 

ation concerning the history of the movement to 
Goldziher's masterly study, 1 where the controversial methods 
adopted by the Shu'iibites are set forth in ample detail. He 
shows how the bolder spirits among them, not satisfied with 
claiming an equal position, argued that the Arabs were abso- 
lutely inferior to the Persians and other peoples. The question 
was hotly debated, and many eminent writers took part in the 
fray. On the Shu'iibite side Abu 'Ubayda, Binini, and 
Hamza of Isfahan deserve mention. Jahiz and Ibn Durayd 
were the most notable defenders of their own Arabian 
nationality, but the 'pro-Arabs' also included several men 
of Persian origin, such as Ibn Qutayba, Baladhuri, and 
Zamakhshari. The Shu'iibites directed their attacks princi- 
pally against the racial pride of the Arabs, who were fond of 
boasting that they were the noblest of all mankind and spoke 
the purest and richest language in the world. Consequently 
the Persian genealogists and philologists lost no opportunity ot 
bringing to light scandalous and discreditable circumstances 
connected with the history of the Arab tribes or of particular 
families. Arabian poetry, especially the vituperative pieces 
(mathdlib), furnished abundant matter of this sort, which was 
adduced by the Shu'iibites as convincing evidence that the 
claims of the Arabs to superior nobility were absurd. At the 
same time the national view as to the unique and incomparable 
excellence of the Arabic language received some rude criticism. 

So acute and irreconcilable were the racial differences 
between Arabs and Persians that one is astonished to see how 
thoroughly the latter became Arabicised in the course of a 

the sight of God are they that do most fear Him." Thus the designation 
1 Shu'ubite ' emphasises the fact that according to Muhammad's teaching 
the Arab Moslems are no better than their non-Arab brethren. 
1 Muhamm. Studien, Part I, p. 147 sqq. 



THE SHU 1 & BITES 



281 



few generations. As clients affiliated to an Arab tribe, they 
assumed Arabic names and sought to disguise their foreign ex- 
traction by fair means or foul. Many provided 

Assimilation of . , . , r . . . . . , 

Arabs and themselves with fictitious pedigrees, on the strength 
of which they passed for Arabs. Such a pretence 
could have deceived nobody if it had not been supported by a 
complete assimilation in language, manners, and even to some 
extent in character. On the neutral ground of Muhammadan 
science animosities were laid aside, and men of both races 
laboured enthusiastically for the common cause. When at 
length, after a century of bloody strife and engrossing political 
agitation, the great majority of Moslems found themselves 
debarred from taking part in public affairs, it was only natural 
that thousands of ardent and ambitious souls should throw 
their pent-up energies into the pursuit of wealth or learning. 
We are not concerned here with the marvellous development 
of trade under the first 'Abbasid Caliphs, of which Von 
Kremer has given a full and entertaining description in his 
Culturgeschichte des Orients. It may be recalled, however, that 
many commercial terms, e.g., tariff, names of fabrics (muslin, 
tabby, &c), occurring in English as well as in most European 
languages are of Arabic origin and were brought to Europe 
by merchants from Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, and other cities of 
Western Asia. This material expansion was accompanied by 
an outburst of intellectual activity such as the East 
feaming in the had never witnessed before. It seemed as if all 
earl rfS dsid the world from the Caliph down to the humblest 
citizen suddenly became students, or at least 
patrons, of literature. In quest of knowledge men travelled 
over three continents and returned home, like bees laden with 
honey, to impart the precious stores which they had accumu- 
lated to crowds of eager disciples, and to compile with 
incredible industry those works of encyclopaedic range and 
erudition from which modern Science, in the widest sense of 
the word, has derived far more than is generally supposed. 



282 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



The Revolution which made the fortune of the 'Abbasid 
House was a triumph for Islam and the party of religious 
reform. While under the worldly Umayyads the 

Development of . 

the Moslem studies of Law and Tradition met with no public 

sciences. 

encouragement and were only kept alive by the 
pious zeal of oppressed theologians, the new dynasty drew its 
strength from the Muhammadan ideas which it professed to 
establish, and skilfully adapted its policy to satisfying the ever- 
increasing claims of the Church. Accordingly the Moslem 
sciences which arose at this time proceeded in the first instance 
from the Koran and the Hadfth. The sacred books offered 
many difficulties both to provincial Arabs and especially to 
Persians and other Moslems of foreign extraction. For their 
right understanding a knowledge of Arabic grammar and 
philology was essential, and this involved the study of the 
ancient Pre-islamic poems which supplied the most authentic 
models of Arabian speech in its original purity. The study of 
these poems entailed researches into genealogy and history, 
which in the course of time became independent branches of 
learning. Similarly the science of Tradition was systemati- 
cally developed in order to provide Moslems with practical 
rules for the conduct of life in every conceivable particular, 
and various schools of Law sprang into existence. 

Muhammadan writers usually distinguish the sciences which 
are connected with the Koran and those which the Arabs 
learned from foreign peoples. In the former 
classification. c ^ ass tne 7 include the Traditional or Religious 
Sciences (al-'UIum al-Naqliyya awl 5 ' 1-SharHyya) 
and the Linguistic Sciences ( c UIumu U-Lisani 'l-'Arabi) ; in 
the latter the Intellectual or Philosophical Sciences [al-Ulum 
al-'Aqliyya awi U-Hikmiyya)^ which are sometimes called ' The 
Sciences of the Foreigners' (fUlumu 9 l- c djam) or 'The Ancient 
Sciences' {al^Ulum al-Qadlma). 

The general scope of this division may be illustrated by the 
following table : — 



THE SCIENTIFIC MOVEMENT 283 



I. The Native Sciences. 

1. Koranic Exegesis ('Ilmu 'l-Tafsir). 

2. Koranic Criticism {'Ilmu 'l-Oird'dt). 

3. The Science of Apostolic Tradition ('Ilmu '1-HadWi). 

4. Jurisprudence (Fiqh). 

5. Scholastic Theology ('Ilmu 'l-Kaldm). 

6. Grammar (Nahw). 

7. Lexicography (Lugha). 

8. Rhetoric (Baydn). 

9. Literature (Adah). 

II. The Foreign Sciences. 

1. Philosophy (Falsafa). 1 

2. Geometry (Handasa). 2 

3. Astronomy ('Ilmu 'l-Nujum). 

4. Music (Musiqi). 

5. Medicine (Tibb). 

6. Magic and Alchemy (al-Sihr wa-l-Kimiyd). 

The religious phenomena of the Period will be discussed in 
a separate chapter, and here I can only allude cursorily to their 

general character. We have seen that during the 
•AbSSd p r <£od whole Umayyad epoch, except in the brief reign of 
SeTought 'Umar b. <Abd al^AzIz, the professors of religion 

were out of sympathy with the court, and that 
many of them withdrew from all participation in public affairs. 
It was otherwise when the 'Abbasids established themselves in 
power. Theology now dwelt in the shadow of the throne 
and directed the policy of the Government. Honours were 
showered on eminent jurists and divines, who frequently held 
official posts of high importance and stood in the most confi- 
dential and intimate relations to the Caliph ; a classical example 
is the friendship of the Cadi Abu Yusuf and Harun al-Rashid. 
The century after the Revolution gave birth to the four great 
schools of Muhammadan Law, which are still called by the 

1 The term Falsafa properly includes Logic, Metaphysics, Mathematics 
Medicine, and the Natural Sciences. 

8 Here we might add the various branches of Mathematics, such as 
Arithmetic, Algebra, Mechanics, &c. 



284 THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 



names of their founders — Malik b. Anas, Abu Hanifa, Shafi'i, 
and Ahmad b. Hanbal. At this time the scientific and intellec- 
tual movement had free play. The earlier Caliphs usually en- 
couraged speculation so long as it threatened no danger to the 
existing regime. Under Ma'miin and his successors the 
Mu'tazilite Rationalism became the State religion, and Islam 
seemed to have entered upon an era of enlightenment. Thus 
the first 'Abbasid period (750-847 a.d.) with its new learning 
and liberal theology may well be compared to the European 
Renaissance ; but in the words of a celebrated Persian poet — 

KhiVati bas fdkhir dmad 'umr 'aybash kutahist. 1 
u Life is a very splendid robe : its fault is brevity." 

The Caliph Mutawakkil (847-861 a.d.) signalised his 
accession by declaring the Mu'tazilite doctrines to be heretical 
and by returning to the traditional faith. Stern 
Th orthodSxy ° f measures were taken against dissenters. Hence- 
forth there was little room in Islam for indepen- 
dent thought. The populace regarded philosophy and natural 
science as a species of infidelity. Authors of works on these 
subjects ran a serious risk unless they disguised their true 
opinions and brought the results of their investigations into 
apparent conformity with the text of the Koran. About the 
middle of the tenth century the reactionary spirit assumed a 
dogmatic shape in the system of Abu '1-Hasan al-Ash'ari, the 
father of Muhammadan Scholasticism, which is essentially 
opposed to intellectual freedom and has maintained its petrify- 
ing influence almost unimpaired down to the present time. 

I could wish that this chapter were more worthy of the 
title which I have chosen for it, but the foregoing pages will 
have served their purpose if they have enabled my readers to 
form some idea of the politics of the Period and of the broad 
features marking the course of its literary and religious history. 
1 'Abdu 'l-Raljman Janri (f 1492 a.d.). 



CHAPTER VII 



POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE 'ABBASID PERIOD 

Pre-islamic poetry was the natural expression of nomad life. 
We might therefore have expected that the new conditions 
and ideas introduced by Islam would rapidly work a 
T poeS r r e egardSd corresponding revolution in the poetical literature 
ascassica q £ ^ e following century. Such, however, was 
far from being the case. The Umayyad poets clung tena- 
ciously to the great models of the Heroic Age and even took 
credit for their skilful imitation of the antique odes. The 
early Muhammadan critics, who were philologists by profession, 
held fast to the principle that Poetry in Pre-islamic times had 
reached a perfection which no modern bard could hope to 
emulate, and which only the lost ideals of chivalry could 
inspire. 1 To have been born after Islam was in itself a proof 
of poetical inferiority. 2 Linguistic considerations, of course, 
entered largely into this prejudice. The old poems were 
studied as repositories of the pure classical tongue and were 
estimated mainly from a grammarian's standpoint. 

These ideas gained wide acceptance in literary circles 
and gradually biassed the popular taste to such an extent 
that learned pedants could boast, like Khalil b. Ahmad, 

1 I am deeply indebted in the following pages to Goldziher's essay 
entitled Alte und Neue Poesie im Urtheile der Arabischen Kritiker in his 
Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I, pp. 122-174. 

2 Cf. the remark made by Abu 'Amr b. al-'Ala about the poet Akhtal 
(p. 242 supra). 

285 



286 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



the inventor of Arabic prosody, that it lay in their 
power to make or mar the reputation of a rising poet 
as they deemed fit. Originality being condemned in 
advance, those who desired the approval of this self-consti- 
tuted Academy were obliged to waste their time and talents 
upon elaborate reproduction of the ancient masterpieces, and 
to entertain courtiers and citizens with borrowed pictures of 
Bedouin life in which neither they nor their audience took the 
slightest interest. Some, it is true, recognised the absurdity of 

the thing. Abu Nuwas (f circa 810 a.d.) often 
Abu: cStic SaSa ridicules the custom, to which reference has 

been made elsewhere, of apostrophising the 
deserted encampment [atlal or tulul) in the opening lines 
of an ode, and pours contempt on the fashionable glorifica- 
tion of antiquity. In the passage translated below he gives 
a description of the desert and its people which recalls some 
of Dr. Johnson's sallies at the expense of Scotland and 
Scotsmen : — 

" Let the south-wind moisten with rain the desolate scene 
And Time efface what once was so fresh and green ! 
Make the camel-rider free of a desert space 
Where high-bred camels trot with unwearied pace ; 
Where only mimosas and thistles flourish, and where, 
For hunting, wolves and hyenas are nowise rare ! 
Amongst the Bedouins seek not enjoyment out : 
What do the}' enjoy? They live in hunger and drought. 
Let them drink their bowls of milk and leave them alone, 
To whom life's finer pleasures are all unknown." 1 

Ibn Qutayba, who died towards the end of the ninth 
century a.d., was the first critic of importance to declare that 
ancients and moderns should be judged on their merits without 
regard to their age. He writes] as follows in the Introduction 

1 Diwan des Abu Nowas, Die Weinlieder, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. io, 
vv. 1-5. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN POETS 287 



to his 'Book of Poetry and Poets' {Kitdbu '/-Shi'r wa-l- 
Shu'ara) :— * 

"In citing extracts from the works of the poets I have been 
guided by my own choice and have refused to admire anything 
merely because others thought it admirable. I have 

IbnQutaybaon , , , . , .„ 

ancient and not regarded any ancient with veneration on account 
modem poets. Q £ an tiquity nor any modern with contempt on 
account of his being modern, but I have taken an impartial view 
of both sides, giving every one his due and amply acknowledging 
his merit. Some of our scholars, as I am aware, pronounce a feeble 
poem to be good, because its author was an ancient, and include 
it among their chosen pieces, while they call a sterling poem bad 
though its only fault is that it was composed in their own time or 
that they have seen its author. God, however, did not restrict 
learning and poetry and rhetoric to a particular age nor appropriate 
them to a particular class, but has always distributed them in 
common amongst His servants, and has caused everything old to be 
new in its own day and every classic work to be an upstart on its 
first appearance." 

The inevitable reaction in favour of the new poetry and of 
contemporary literature in general was hastened by various 

circumstances which combined to overthrow the 
R dassiSm nst prevalent theory that Arabian heathendom and 

the characteristic pagan virtues — honour, courage, 
liberality, &c. — were alone capable of producing poetical 
genius. Among the chief currents of thought tending in 
this direction, which are lucidly set forth in Goldziher's 
essay, pp. 148 sqq., we may note (a) the pietistic and theo- 
logical spirit fostered by the 'Abbasid Government, and (b) the 
influence of foreign, pre-eminently Persian, culture. As to 
the former, it is manifest that devout Moslems would not be 
at all disposed to admit the exclusive pretensions made on 
behalf of the Jahiliyya or to agree with those who exalted 
chivalry (mUruwwa) above religion {din). Were not the 
language and style of the Koran incomparably excellent ? 
Surely the Holy Book was a more proper subject for study 
1 Ed. by De Goeje, p. 5, 11. 5-15. 



288 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



than heathen verses. But if Moslems began to call Pre- 
islamic ideals in question, it was especially the Persian 
ascendancy resulting from the triumph of the 'Abbasid 
House that shook the old arrogant belief of the Arabs in 
the intellectual supremacy of their race. So far from glory- 
ing in the traditions of paganism, many people thought it 
grossly insulting to mention an 'Abbasid Caliph in the same 
breath with heroes of the past like Hatim of Tayyi' and 
Harim b. Sin&n. The philosopher al-Kindi (f about 
850 a.d.) rebuked a poet for venturing on such odious 
comparisons. " Who are these Arabian vagabonds " (sa^dliku 
'l-'-Arab), he asked, " and what worth have they ? " 1 

While Ibn Qutayba was content to urge that the modern 
poets should get a fair hearing, and should be judged not 
chronologically or philologically, but cestheti- 

Critics in favour 77 r , ,. . . , 

of the caily, some or the greatest literary critics who 

modern school. r . . . . , . . 

came after him do not conceal their opinion 
that the new poetry is superior to the old. Tha'alibi 
(f 1038 a.d.) asserts that in tenderness and elegance the 
Pre-islamic bards are surpassed by their successors, and that 
both alike have been eclipsed by his contemporaries. Ibn 
Rashiq (f circa 1070 a.d.), whose c Umda on the Art of 
Poetry is described by Ibn Khaldun as an epoch-making 
work, thought that the superiority of the moderns would 
be acknowledged if they discarded the obsolete conventions 
of the Ode. European readers cannot but sympathise with 
him when he bids the poets draw inspiration from nature and 
truth instead of relating imaginary journeys on a camel which 
they never owned, through deserts which they never saw, to a 
patron residing in the same city as themselves. This seems 
to us a very reasonable and necessary protest, but it must be 
remembered that the Bedouin qaslda was not easily adaptable 
to the conditions of urban life, and needed complete remould- 
ing rather than modification in detail. 2 

1 Cf. the story told of Abu Tammam by Ibn Khallikan (De Slane's 
translation, vol. i, p. 350 seq.). 2 See Noldeke, BeitrUge, p. 4. 



THE CLASSICS OUT OF FAVOUR 289 



"In the fifth century," says Goldziher — from about 
1000 a.d. — "the dogma of the unattainable perfection of 

the heathen poets may be regarded as utterly 
P SSSfpSrt? e demolished." Henceforth popular taste ran 

strongly in the other direction, as is shown by 
the immense preponderance of modern pieces in the antho- 
logies — a favourite and characteristic branch of Arabic 
literature — which were compiled during the 'Abbasid period 
and afterwards, and by frequent complaints of the neglect 
into which the ancient poetry had fallen. But although, for 
Moslems generally, Imru'u '1-Qays and his fellows came to 
be more or less what Chaucer is to the average Englishman, 
the views first enunciated by Ibn Qutayba met with bitter 
opposition from the learned class, many of whom clung 
obstinately to the old philological principles of criticism, 
and even declined to recognise the writings of Mutanabbi 
and Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma c arri as poetry, on the ground that 
those authors did not observe the classical 4 types' (asallb). 1 
The result of such pedantry may be seen at the present day 
in thousands of qasidas, abounding in archaisms and allusions 
to forgotten far-off things of merely antiquarian interest, 
but possessing no more claim to consideration here than the 
Greek and Latin verses of British scholars in a literary history 
of the Victorian Age. 

Passing now to the characteristics of the new poetry which 
followed the accession or the 'Abbasids, we have to bear in 
mind that from first to last (with very few excep- 
of the tions) it flourished under the patronage of the 
new poetry. court> There was no organised book trade, no 
wealthy publishers, so that poets were usually dependent for 
their livelihood on the capricious bounty ot the Caliphs and 
his favourites whom they belauded. Huge sums were paid 

1 Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima (Beyrout, 1900), p. 573, 1. 21 seq. ; Prolego- 
mena of Ibn K., translated by De Slane, vol. iii, p. 380. 

20 



290 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



for a successful panegyric, and the bards vied with each 
other in flattery of the most extravagant description. Even 
in writers of real genius this prostitution of their art gave rise 
to a great deal of the false glitter and empty bombast which 
are often erroneously attributed to Oriental poetry as a whole. 1 
These qualities, however, are absolutely foreign to Arabian 
poetry of the best period. The old Bedouins who praised a 
man only for that which was in him, and drew their images 
directly from nature, stand at the opposite pole to Tha'alibfs 
contemporaries. Under the Umayyads, as we have seen, little 
change took place. It is not until after the enthronement of 
the 'Abbasids, when Persians filled the chief offices at court, 
and when a goodly number ot poets and eminent men of 
learning had Persian blood in their veins, that an unmis- 
takably new note makes itself heard. One might be 
tempted to surmise that the high-flown, bombastic, and 
ornate style of which MutanabM is the most illustrious 
exponent, and which is so marked a teature in later 
Muhammadan poetry, was first introduced by the Persians and 
Perso- Arabs who gathered round the Caliph in Baghdad and 
celebrated the triumph of their own race in the person of a 
noble Barmecide ; but this would scarcely be true. The 
style in question is not specially Persian ; the earliest Arabic- 
writing poets of Iranian descent, like Bashshar b. Burd and 
Abu Nuwas, are (so far as I can see) without a trace of it. 
What the Persians brought into Arabian poetry was not a 
grandiose style, but a lively and graceful fancy, elegance of 
diction, depth and tenderness of feeling, and a rich store 
of ideas. 

The process 01 transformation was aided by other causes 
besides the influx of Persian and Hellenistic culture : for 
example, by the growing importance of Islam in public life 
and the diffusion of a strong religious spirit among the com- 
munity at large — a spirit which attained its most perfect 
1 See Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, vol. ii, p. 14 sqq. 



THE NEW POETRY 



291 



expression in the reflective and didactic poetry of Abu 
'l-'Atahiya. Every change of many-coloured life is depicted 
in the brilliant pages of these modern poets, where the reader 
may find, according to his mood, the maddest gaiety and the 
shamefullest frivolity ; strains of lofty meditation mingled 
with a world-weary pessimism ; delicate sentiment, unforced 
pathos, and glowing rhetoric ; but seldom the manly self- 
reliance, the wild, invigorating freedom and inimitable 
freshness of Bedouin song. 

It is of course impossible to do justice even to the principal 
'Abbasid poets within the limits of this chapter, but the fol- 
lowing five may be taken as fairly representative : 
pSteofthe Mud* b. Iyas, Abu Nuwas, Abu VAtihiya, 
Abbasid period, y^^^ and Abu VA14 a l-Ma<arri. The 

first three were in close touch with the court of Baghdad, 
while Mutanabbf and Abu 'l-'Ald flourished under the 
Hamdanid dynasty which ruled in Aleppo. 

Mud* b. Iyas only deserves notice here as the earliest poet 
of the New School. His father was a native of Palestine, but 
m ^ tfa ^, he himself was born and educated at Kufa. He 
began his career under the Umayyads, and was 
devoted to the Caliph Walid b. Yazid, who found in him a 
fellow after his own heart, " accomplished, dissolute, an agree- 
able companion and excellent wit, reckless in his effrontery 
and suspected in his religion." 1 When the 'Abbasids came 
into power Muti' attached himselt to the Caliph Mansur. 
Many stories are told of the debauched life which he led 
in the company of zindlqs^ or free-thinkers, a class of men 
whose opinions we shall sketch in another chapter. His 
songs of love and wine are distinguished by their lightness 
and elegance. The best known is that in which he laments 
his separation from the daughter, of a Dihqdn (Persian landed 
1 Aghani, xii, 80, 1. 3. 



292 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



proprietor), and invokes the two palm-trees of Hulwan, a 
town situated on the borders of the Jibal province between 
Hamadhan and Baghdad. From this poem arose the 
proverb, " Faster friends than the two palm-trees of 
Hulwan." * 

THE YEOMAN'S DAUGHTER. 

"O ye two palms, palms of Hulwan, 
Help me weep Time's bitter dole ! 
Know that Time for ever parteth 
Life from every living soul. 

Had ye tasted parting's anguish, 
Ye would weep as I, forlorn. 
Help me ! Soon must ye asunder 
By the same hard fate be torn. 

Many are the friends and loved ones 

Whom I lost in days before. 

Fare thee well, O yeoman's daughter ! — 

Never grief like this I bore. 

Her, alas, mine eyes behold not, 

And on me she looks no more ! " 



By Europeans who know him only through the Thousand 
and One Nights Abu Nuwas is remembered as the boon-com- 
panion and court jester of "the good Haroun 
O areata Zh. Alraschid," and as the hero of countless droll 
adventures and facetious anecdotes — an Oriental 
Howleglass or Joe Miller. It is often forgotten that he was 
a great poet who, in the opinion of those most competent to 
judge, takes rank above all his contemporaries and successors, 
including even Mutanabbf, and is not surpassed in poetical 
genius by any ancient bard. 

1 Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, vol. i, p. 46 seq., where the reader will 
find the Arabic text of the verses translated here. Ruckert has given a 
German rendering of the same verses in his Hamdsa, vol. i, p. 311. A 
fuller text of the poem occurs in Aghdm, xii, 107 seq. 



ABU NUWAS 



293 



Hasan b. Hani* gained the familiar title of Abu Nuwas 
(Father of the lock of hair) from two locks which hung 
down on his shoulders. He was born of humble parents, 
about the middle of the eighth century, in Ahwaz, the 
capital of Khuzistan. That he was not a pure Arab the 
name of his mother, Jallaban, clearly indicates, while the fol- 
lowing verse affords sufficient proof that he was not ashamed 
of his Persian blood : — 

" Who are Tarmm and Qays and all their kin ? 
The Arabs in God's sight are nobody." 1 

He received his education at Basra, of which city he calls 
himself a native, 2 and at Kufa, where he studied poetry and 
philology under the learned Khalaf al-Ahmar. After passing 
a ' Wanderjahr ' among the Arabs of the desert, as was the 
custom of scholars at that time, he made his way to Baghdad 
and soon eclipsed every competitor at the court of Harun the 
Orthodox. A man of the most abandoned character, which 
he took no pains to conceal, Abu Nuwas, by his flagrant 
immorality, drunkenness, and blasphemy, excited the Caliph's 
anger to such a pitch that he often threatened the culprit with 
death, and actually imprisoned him on several occasions ; but 
these fits of severity were brief. The poet survived both 
Harun and his son, Amin, who succeeded him in the 
Caliphate. Age brought repentance — " the Devil was sick, 
the Devil a monk would be." He addressed the following 
lines from prison to Fa<Jl b. al-Rabi 4 , whom Harun appointed 
Grand Vizier after the fall of the Barmecides : — 

" Fadl, who hast taught and trained me up to goodness 
(And goodness is but habit), thee I praise. 
Now hath vice fled and virtue me revisits, 
And I have turned to chaste and pious ways. 

1 Diwdn, ed. by Ahlwardt, Die Weinlieder, No. 26, v. 4. 
3 Ibn Qutayba, K. al-Shi'r wa-l-SJm'ard, p. 502, 1. 13. 



294 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



To see me, thou would' st think the saintly Basrite, 

Hasan, or else Qatada, met thy gaze, 1 

So do I deck humility with leanness, 

While yellow, locust-like, my cheek o'erlays. 

Beads on my arm ; and on my breast the Scripture, 

Where hung a chain of gold in other days." 2 



The Diwan of Abu Nuwas contains poems in many dif- 
ferent styles — e.g.^ panegyric (madih\ satire (hijd), songs or 
the chase (tardiyyat) y elegies (mardthl), and religious poems 
(zuhdiyydt) ; but love and wine were the two motives by 
which his genius was most brilliantly inspired. His wine- 
songs (khdmriyyat) are generally acknowledged to be incom- 
parable. Here is one of the shortest : — 



"Thou scolder of the grape and me, 
I ne'er shall win thy smile ! 
Because against thee I rebel, 
'Tis churlish to revile. 

Ah, breathe no more the name of wine 

Until thou cease to blame, 
For fear that thy foul tongue should smirch 

Its fair and lovely name ! 

Come, pour it out, ye gentle boys, 

A vintage ten years old, 
That seems as though 'twere in the cup 

A lake of liquid gold. 

And when the water mingles there, 

To fancy's eye are set 
Pearls over shining pearls close strung 

As in a carcanet." 3 



1 For the famous ascetic, Hasan of Basra, see pp. 225-227. Qatada was 
a learned divine, also of Basra and contemporary with Hasan. He died 
in 735 a.d. 

2 These verses are quoted by Ibn Qutayba, op. tit, p. 507 seq. 1 The 
Scripture ' (al-mashaf) is of course the Koran. 

3 Die Weinlieder, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 47. 



ABti NUWAS 



295 



Another poem begins — 

" Ho! a cup, and fill it up, and tell me it is wine, 
For I will never drink in shade if I can drink in shine ! 
Curst and poor is every hour that sober I must go, 
But rich am I whene'er well drunk I stagger to and fro. 
Speak, for shame, the loved one's name, let vain disguise 
alone : 

No good there is in pleasures o'er which a veil is thrown." 1 

Abu Nuwas practised what he preached, and hypocrisy at 
any rate cannot be laid to his charge. The moral and 
religious sentiments which appear in some of his poems are 
not mere cant, but should rather be regarded as the utterance 
of sincere though transient emotion. Usually he felt and 
avowed that pleasure was the supreme business of his life, 
and that religious scruples could not be permitted to stand 
in the way. He even urges others not to shrink from any 
excess, inasmuch as the Divine mercy is greater than all the 
sins of which a man is capable : — 

" Accumulate as many sins thou canst : 
The Lord is ready to relax His ire. 
When the day comes, forgiveness thou wilt find 
Before a mighty King and gracious Sire, 
And gnaw thy fingers, all that joy regretting 
Which thou didst leave thro' terror of Hell-fire !" 2 

We must now bid farewell to Abu Nuwas and the 
licentious poets (al-shu'ard al-mujjdn) who reflect so admir- 
ably the ideas and manners prevailing in court circles and 
in the upper classes of society which were chiefly influenced 
by the court. The scenes of luxurious dissipation and refined 
debauchery which they describe show us, indeed, that Persian 
culture was not an unalloyed blessing to the Arabs any more 

1 Ibid., No. 29, w. 1-3. 

2 Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wiistenfeld, No. 169, p. 100 ; De Slane's 
translation, vol. i, p. 393. 



296 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



than were the arts of Greece to the Romans ; but this is only 
the darker side of the picture. The works of a contempo- 
rary poet furnish evidence of the indignation which the 
libertinism fashionable in high places called forth among 
the mass of Moslems who had not lost faith in morality and 
religion. 

Abu 'l-'Atahiya, unlike his great rival, came of Arab stock. 
He was bred in Kufa, and gained his livelihood as a young 

man by selling earthenware. His poetical talent, 
A (748-828A h D y ) a however, promised so well that he set out to 

present himself before the Caliph Mahdi, who 
richly rewarded him ; and Harun al-Rashid afterwards be- 
stowed on him a yearly pension of 50,000 dirhems (about 
^2,000), in addition to numerous extraordinary gifts. At 
Baghdad he fell in love with c Utba, a slave-girl belonging to 
Mahdi, but she did not return his passion or take any notice of 
the poems in which he celebrated her charms and bewailed the 
sufferings that she made him endure. Despair of winning her 
affection caused him, it is said, to assume the woollen garb of 
Muhammadan ascetics, 1 and henceforth, instead of writing vain 
and amatorious verses, he devoted his powers exclusively to 
those joyless meditations on mortality which have struck a deep 
chord in the hearts of his countrymen. Like Abu 'l-'Ala 
al-Ma'arn and others who neglected the positive precepts of 
Islam in favour of a moral philosophy based on experience and 
reflection, Abu 'l-'Atahiya was accused of being a freethinker 
(zindzq). 2 It was alleged that in his poems he often spoke of 

1 Cf. Dlwdn (ed. of Beyrout, 1886), p. 279, 1. 9, where he reproaches one 
of his former friends who deserted him because, in his own words, " I 
adopted the garb of a dervish " (sirtu ft ziyyi miskini). Others attribute 
his conversion to disgust with the immorality and profanity of the court- 
poets amongst whom he lived. 

2 Possibly he alludes to these aspersions in the verse (ibid., p. 153, 1. 10): 
" Men have become corrupted, and if they see any one who is sound in 
his religion, they call him a heretic'' (mubtadi*). 



ABU 'L-'ATAHIYA 



297 



death but never of the Resurrection and the Judgment — 
a calumny which is refuted by many passages in his Diwan. 
According to the literary historian al-Suli (t 946 a.d.), Abu 
'l-'Atdhiya believed in One God who formed the universe out of 
two opposite elements which He created from nothing ; and 
held, further, that everything would be reduced to these same 
elements before the final destruction of all phenomena. Know- 
ledge, he thought, was acquired naturally (i.e. y without Divine 
Revelation) by means of reflection, deduction, and research. 1 
He believed in the threatened retribution (al-wci'ld) and in the 
command to abstain from commerce with the world (tahrimu 
' l-ma%asib).' 2 He professed the opinions or the Butrites,3 a 
subdivision of the Zaydites, as that sect of the Shf'a was named 
which followed Zayd b. All b. Husayn b. 'AH b. AW Talib. 
He spoke evil or none, and did not approve of revolt against the 
Government. He held the doctrine of predestination (jabr)A 
Abu 'l-'Atahiya may have secretly cherished the Manichaean 
views ascribed to him in this passage, but his poems contain 
little or nothing that could offend the most orthodox Moslem. 
The following verse, in which Goldziher finds an allusion to 
Buddha,5 is capable of a different interpretation. It rather 

1 Abu 'l-'Atahiya declares that knowledge is derived from three sources, 
logical reasoning {qiyds), examination {'iydr), and oral tradition (samd 1 ). 
See his Diwdn, p. 158, 1. 11. 

2 Cf. Mam, seine Lehre und seine Schriften, by G. Fliigel, p. 281, 1. 3 sqq. 
Abu 'l-'Atahiya did not take this extreme view {Diwdn, p. 270, L 3 seq.). 

3 See Shahrastam, Haarbriicker's translation, Part I, p. 181 sqq. It 
appears highly improbable that Abu 'l-'Atahiya was a Shi'ite. Cf. the 
verses (Diwdn, p. 104, 1. 13 seq.), where, speaking of the prophets and the 
holy men of ancient Islam, he says : — 

" Reckon first among them Abu Bakt, the veracious, 
And exclaim '0 l TJmar V in the second -place of honour. 
And reckon the father of Hasan after l Vthmdn, 
For the merit of them both is recited and celebrated." 

4 Aghdm, iii, 128, 1. 6 sqq. 

s Transactions of the Ninth Congress 0+ Orientalists, vol. ii. p. 114. 



298 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 

seems to me to exalt the man of ascetic life, without particular 
reference to any individual, above all others : — 

" If thou would' st see the noblest of mankind, 
Behold a monarch in a beggar's garb." 1 

But while the poet avoids positive heresy, it is none the less 
true that much of his Dfwan is not strictly religious in the 
Muhammadan sense and may fairly be called 4 philosophical.' 
This was enough to convict him of infidelity and atheism in 
the eyes of devout theologians who looked askance on moral 
teaching, however pure, that was not cast in the dogmatic 
mould. The pretended cause of his imprisonment by Harun 
al-Rashld — namely, that he refused to make any more love- 
songs — is probably, as Goldziher has suggested, a popular version 
of the fact that he persisted in writing religious poems which 
were supposed to have a dangerous bias in the direction of 
free-thought. 

His poetry breathes a spirit of proround melancholy and hope- 
less pessimism. Death and what comes after death, the frailty 
and misery of man, the vanity of worldly pleasures and the duty 
of renouncing them — these are the subjects on which he 
dwells with monotonous reiteration, exhorting his readers to live 
the ascetic life and fear God and lay up a store of good 
works against the Day of Reckoning. The simplicity, ease, 
and naturalness of his style are justly admired. Religious 

1 Diwdn, p. 274, 1. 10. Cf. the verse (p. 199, penultimate line) :— 

" When I gained contentment, I did not cease {thereafter) 
To be a king, regarding riches as poverty." 

The ascetic " lives the life of a king" (ibid., p. 187, 1. 5). Contented men 
are the noblest of all (p. 148, 1. 2). So the great Persian mystic, Jalalu 
'1-Din Rumi, says in reference to the perfect Sufi (Divdn-i Shams-i Tabriz, 
No. viii, v. 3 in my edition) : Mard-i khudd shah buvad zir-i dalq, " the 
man of God is a iking 'neath dervish-cloak ; " and eminent spiritualists 
are frequently described as " kings of the (mystic) path." I do not deny, 
however, that this metaphor may have been originally suggested by the 
story of Buddha. 



ABU 'L^ATAHIYA 



299 



poetry, as he himself confesses, was not read at court or by 
scholars who demanded rare and obscure expressions, but only 
by pious folk, traditionists and divines, and especially by the 
vulgar, " who like best what they can understand." 1 
Abu 'l-'Atihiya wrote for 'the man in the street.' Discarding 
conventional themes tricked out with threadbare artifices, he 
appealed to common feelings and matters of universal ex- 
perience. He showed for the first and perhaps for the last 
time in the history of Arabic literature that it was possible to 
use perfectly plain and ordinary language without ceasing to 
be a poet. 

Although, as has been said, the bulk of Abu 'l-'Atahiya's 
poetry is philosophical in character, there remains much 
specifically Islamic doctrine, in particular as regards the 
Resurrection and the Future Life. This combination may 
be illustrated by the following ode, which is considered one 
of the best that have been written on the subject of religion, 
or, more accurately, of asceticism (zuhd) : — 

" Get sons for death, build houses for decay ! 
All, all, ye wend annihilation's way. 
For whom build we, who must ourselves return 
Into our native element of clay ? 

Death, nor violence nor flattery thou 

Dost use, but when thou com'st, escape none may. 
Methinks, thou art ready to surprise mine age, 
As age surprised and made my youth his prey. 
What ails me, World, that every place perforce 

1 lodge thee in, it galleth me to stay ? 
And, O Time, how do I behold thee run 

To spoil me ? Thine own gift thou tak'st away ! 
O Time ! inconstant, mutable art thou, 
And o'er the realm of ruin is thy sway. 



1 Diwdn, p. 25, 1. 3 sqq. Abu 'l-'Atahiya took credit to himself for 
introducing 'the language of the market-place' into his poetry (ibid., 
p. 12, 1. 3 seq.). 



300 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



What ails me that no glad result it brings 

Whene'er, O World, to milk thee I essay? 

And when I court thee, why dost thou raise up 

On all sides only trouble and dismay? 

Men seek thee every wise, but thou art like 

A dream ; the shadow of a cloud ; the day 

Which hath but now departed, nevermore 

To dawn again ; a glittering vapour gay. 

This people thou hast paid in full : their feet 

Are on the stirrup — let them not delay ! 

But those that do good works and labour well 

Hereafter shall receive the promised pay. 

As if no punishment I had to fear, 

A load of sin upon my neck I lay; 

And while the world I love, from Truth, alas, 

Still my besotted senses go astray. 

I shall be asked of all my business here : 

What can I plead then? What can I gainsay? 

What argument allege, when I am called 

To render an account on Reckoning- Day ? 

Dooms twain in that dread hour shall be revealed, 

When I the scroll of these mine acts survey : 

Either to dwell in everlasting bliss, 

Or suffer torments of the damned for aye ! " 1 

I will now add a few verses culled from the Dfwan which 
bring the poet's pessimistic view of life into clearer outline, 
and also some examples of those moral precepts and sententious 
criticisms which crowd his pages and have contributed in no 
small degree to his popularity. 

"The world is like a viper soft to touch that venom spits. 2 " 

"Men sit like revellers o'er their cups and drink, 
From the world's hand, the circling wine of death." 3 

" Call no man living blest for aught you see 
But that for which you blessed call the dead." 4 



1 Diwdn (Beyrout, 1886), p. 23, 1. 13 et seqq. 

2 Ibid., p. 51, 1. 2. 3 Ibid., p. 132, 1. 3. 
4 Ibid., p. 46, 1. 16. 



ABU 'L-'ATAHIYA 



301 



FALSE FRIENDS. 



"Tis not the Age that moves my scorn, 
But those who in the Age are born. 
I cannot count the friends that broke 
Their faith, tho' honied words they spoke ; 
In whom no aid I found, and made 
The Devil welcome to their aid. 
May I — so best we shall agree — 
Ne'er look on them nor they on me ! " 1 



"If men should see a prophet begging, they would turn and 
scout him. 

Thy friend is ever thine as long as thou canst do without him ; 
But he will spew thee forth, if in thy need thou come about 



THE WICKED WORLD. 

"'Tis only on the culprit sin recoils, 
The ignorant fool against himself is armed. 
Humanity are sunk in wickedness ; 
The best is he that leaveth us unharmed. " 3 

"'Twas my despair of Man that gave me hope 
God's grace would find me soon, I know not how. " 4 



" Man's life is his fair name, and not his length of years ; 
Man's death is his ill-fame, and not the day that nears. 
Then life to thy fair name by deeds of goodness give : 
So in this world two lives, O mortal, thou shalt live. " 5 



MAXIMS AND RULES OF LIFE. 

"Mere falsehood by its face is recognised, 
But Truth by parables and admonitions." 6 



him." 2 



LIFE AND DEATH. 



1 Dtwdn, p. 260, 1. 11 et seqq. 
3 Ibid., p. 287, 1. 10 seq. . 4 

s Ibid., p. 259, penultimate line et seq. 



2 Ibid., p. 295, 1. 14 et seqq. 
4 Ibid., p. 119, 1. 11. 
\. 6 Ibid., p. 115, 1. 4- 



302 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



"I keep the bond of love inviolate 
Towards all humankind, for I betray 
Myself, if I am false to any man. " 1 

" Far from the safe path, hop'st thou to be saved ? 
Ships make no speedy voyage on dry land. " 2 

"Strip off the world from thee and naked live, 
For naked thou didst fall into the world. " 3 

" Man guards his own and grasps his neighbours' pelf, 
And he is angered when they him prevent ; 
But he that makes the earth his couch will sleep 
No worse, if lacking silk he have content. " 4 

"Men vaunt their noble blood, but I behold 
No lineage that can vie with righteous deeds." 5 

" If knowledge lies in long experience, 
Less than what I have borne suffices me. " 6 

" Faith is the medicine of every grief, 
Doubt only raises up a host of cares." 7 

" Blame me or no, 'tis my predestined state : 
If I have erred, infallible is Fate." 8 

Abu 'l-'Atihiya found little favour with his contemporaries, 
who seem to have regarded him as a miserly hypocrite. He 
died, an aged man, in the Caliphate of Ma'mun,9 Von 

1 Diwdn, p. 5i, 1. 10. 2 Ibid., p. 133, 1. 5. 

3 Ibid., p. 74, 1. 4. 4 Ibid., p. 149, 1. 12 seq. 

s Ibid., p. 195, 1. 9. Cf. p. 243, 1. 4 seq. 
6 Ibid., p. 274, 1. 6. i Ibid., p. 262, 1. 4. 

8 Ibid., p. 346, 1. 11. Cf. p. 102, 1. 11 ; p. 262, 1. 1 seq. ; p. 267, 1. 7. This 
verse is taken from Abu 'l-'Atahiya's famous didactic poem composed in 
rhyming couplets, which is said to have contained 4,000 sentences of 
morality. Several of these have been translated by Von Kremer in his 
Culturgeschichte des Orients, vol. ii, p. 374 sqq. 

9 In one of his poems {Diwdn, p. 160, 1. 11), he says that he has lived 
ninety years, but if this is not a mere exaggeration, it needs to be 
corrected. The words for 1 seventy ' and ' ninety' are easily confused in 
Arabic writing. 



ABU >L- l ATAHIYA 



303 



Kremer thinks that he had a truer genius for poetry than 
Abu Nuwas, an opinion in which I am unable to concur. 
Both, however, as he points out, are distinctive types of their 
time. If Abu Nuwas presents an appalling picture of a corrupt 
and frivolous society devoted to pleasure, we learn from Abu 
'l-'Atihiya something of the religious feelings and beliefs which 
pervaded the middle and lower classes, and which led them to 
take a more earnest and elevated view of life. 

With the rapid decline and disintegration of the c Abbasid 
Empire which set in towards the middle of the ninth century, 
numerous petty dynasties arose, and the hitherto unrivalled 
splendour of Baghdad was challenged by more than one pro- 
vincial court. These independent or semi-independent princes 
were sometimes zealous patrons of learning — it is well known, 
for example, that a national Persian literature first came into 
being under the auspices of the Samanids in Khurasan and the 
Buwayhids in 'Iraq — but as a rule the anxious task of main- 
taining, or the ambition of extending, their power left them 
small leisure to cultivate letters, even if they wished to do so. 
None combined the arts of war and peace more brilliantly 
than the Hamdanid Sayfu 'l-Dawla, who in 944 a.d. made 
himself master of Aleppo, and founded an independent king- 
dom in Northern Syria. 

"The Hamdanids," says Tha'alibi, "were kings and princes, 
comely of countenance and eloquent of tongue, endowed with 

open-handedness and gravity of mind. Sayfu 'l-Dawla 
eufo*y b of * s f amec * as * ne cme * amongst them all and the centre- 
Sayfu 'i-Dawia. pearl of their necklace. He was — may God be pleased 

with him and grant his desires and make Paradise his 
abode ! — the brightest star of his age and the pillar of Islam : by 
him the frontiers were guarded and the State well governed. His 
attacks on the rebellious Arabs checked their fury and blunted 
their teeth and tamed their stubbornness and secured his subjects 
against their barbarity. His campaigns exacted vengeance from 
the Emperor of the Greeks, decisively broke their hostile onset, 



304 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 

and had an excellent effect on Islam. His court was the goal of 
ambassadors, the dayspring of liberality, the horizon-point of hope, 
the end of journeys, a place where savants assembled and poets 
competed for the palm. It is said that after the Caliphs no prince 
gathered around him so many masters of poetry and men illustrious 
in literature as he did ; and to a monarch's hall, as to a market, 
people bring only what is in demand. He was an accomplished 
scholar, a poet himself and a lover of fine poetry ; keenly sus- 
ceptible to words of praise." 1 

Sayfu 'l-Dawla's cousin, Abu Firas al-Hamdani, was a 
gallant soldier and a poet of some mark, who if space per- 
mitted would receive fuller notice here. 2 He, however, 
though superior to the common herd of court poets, is 
overshadowed by one who with all his faults — and they are 
not inconsiderable — made an extraordinary impression upon 
his contemporaries, and by the commanding influence of his 
reputation decided what should henceforth be the standard of 
poetical taste in the Muhammadan world. 

Abu '1-Tayyib Ahmad b. Husayn, known to fame as 
al-Mutanabbi, was born and bred at Kufa, where his father 

is said to have been a water-carrier. Following 
(9?5^Ta.r). tne admirable custom by which young men of 

promise were sent abroad to complete their 
education, he studied at Damascus and visited other towns 
in Syria, but also passed much of his time among the 
Bedouins, to whom he owed the singular knowledge 
and mastery of Arabic displayed in his poems. Here he 
came forward as a prophet (from which circumstance he 
was afterwards entitled al-Mutanabbi, i.e. y 6 the pretender to 
prophecy '), and induced a great multitude to believe in him ; 
but ere long he was captured by Lulu, the governor of Hims 
(Emessa), and thrown into prison. After his release he 

1 Tha'alibi, Yatimatu 'l-Dahr (Damascus, 1304 A.H.), vol. i, p. 8 seq. 

2 See Von Kremer's Culturgeschichte, vol. ii, p. 381 sqq. ; Ahlwardt, 
Poesie und Poetik der Araber, p. 37 sqq. ; R. Dvorak, Abu Firds, ein 
arabischer Dichter und Held (Leyden, 1895). 



MUTANABBl 



305 



wandered to and fro chanting the praises of all and sundry, 
until fortune guided him to the court of Sayfu '1-Dawla at 
Aleppo. For nine years (948-957 a.d.) he stood high in 
the favour of that cultured prince, whose virtues he celebrated 
in a series of splendid eulogies, and with whom he lived as an 
intimate friend and comrade in arms. The liberality of Sayfu 
'1-Dawla and the ingenious impudence of the poet are well 
brought out by the following anecdote : — 

Mutanabbi on one occasion handed to his patron the copy of an 
ode which he had recently composed in his honour, and retired, 
leaving Sayfu '1-Dawla to peruse it at leisure. The prince began to 
read, and came to these lines — 

Aqil anil aqti' ihmil ( alli salli a'id 

zid hashshi bashshi iafaddal adni surra' sili. 1 

"Pardon, bestow, endow, mount, raise, console, restore, 
Add, laugh, rejoice, bring nigh, show favour, gladden, give!" 

Far from being displeased by the poet's arrogance, Sayfu '1-Dawla 
was so charmed with his artful collocation of fourteen imperatives 
in a single verse that he granted every request. Under pardon he 
wrote ' we pardon thee ' ; under bestow, ' let him receive such and 
such a sum of money ' ; under endow, ' we endow thee with an 
estate,' which he named (it was beside the gate of Aleppo) ; under 
mount, 1 let such and such a horse be led to him ' ; under raise, ' we 
do so ' ; under console, ' we do so, be at ease ' ; under restore, * we 
restore thee to thy former place in our esteem ' ; under add, * let him 
have such and such in addition ' ; under bring nigh, 1 we admit thee 
to our intimacy ' ; under show favour, 1 we have done so ' ; under 
gladden, ' we have made thee glad ' 2 ; under give, ' this we have 
already done.' Mutanabbi's rivals envied his good fortune, and 
one of them said to Sayfu '1-Dawla — "Sire, you have done all that 
he asked, but when he uttered the words laugh, rejoice, why did not 
you answer, ' Ha, ha, ha ' ? " Sayfu '1-Dawla laughed, and said, " You 
too, shall have your wish," and ordered him a donation. 

1 Mutanabbi, ed. by Dieterici, p. 493. Wahidi gives the whole story in 
his commentary on this verse. 

2 Mutanabbi, it is said, explained to Sayfu '1-Dawla that by surra 
(gladden) he meant surriyya ; whereupon the good-humoured prince 
presented him with a slave-girl. 

21 



3o6 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



Mutanabbf was sincerely attached to his generous master, 
and this feeling inspired a purer and loftier strain than we 
find in the fulsome panegyrics which he afterwards addressed 
to the negro Kafur. He seems to have been occasionally in 
disgrace, but Sayfu '1-Dawla could deny nothing to a poet 
who paid him such magnificent compliments. Nor was he 
deterred by any false modesty from praising himself : he was 
fully conscious of his power and, like Arabian bards in 
general, he bragged about it. Although the verbal leger- 
demain which is so conspicuous in his poetry cannot be 
reproduced in another language, the lines translated below 
may be taken as a favourable and sufficiently characteristic 
specimen of his style. 

" How glows mine heart for him whose heart to me is cold, 
Who liketh ill my case and me in fault doth hold ! 
Why should I hide a love that hath worn thin my frame ? 
To Sayfu '1-Dawla all the world avows the same. 
Tho' love of his high star unites us, would that we 
According to our love might so divide the fee ! 
Him have I visited when sword in sheath was laid, 
And I have seen him when in blood swam every blade : 
Him, both in peace and war the best of all mankind, 
Whose crown of excellence was still his noble mind. 

Do foes by flight escape thine onset, thou dost gain 
A chequered victory, half of pleasure, half of pain. 
So puissant the fear thou strik'st them with, it stands 
Instead of thee, and works more than thy warriors' hands. 
Unfought the field is thine : thou need'st not further strain 
To chase them from their holes in mountain or in plain. 
What ! 'fore thy fierce attack whene'er an army reels, 
Must thy ambitious soul press hot upon their heels ? 
Thy task it is to rout them on the battle-ground : 
No shame to thee if they in flight have safety found. 
Or thinkest thou perchance that victory is sweet 
Only when scimitars and necks each other greet ? 

O justest of the just save in thy deeds to me ! 

Thou art accused and thou, O Sire, must judge the plea. 



MUTANABBf 



Look, I implore thee, well ! Let not thine eye cajoled 
See fat in empty froth, in all that glisters gold ! 1 
What use and profit reaps a mortal of his sight, 
If darkness unto him be indistinct from light ? 

My deep poetic art the blind have eyes to see, 
My verses ring in ears as deaf as deaf can be. 
They wander far abroad while I am unaware, 
But men collect them watchfully with toil and care. 
Oft hath my laughing mien prolonged the insulter's sport, 
Until with claw and mouth I cut his rudeness short. 
Ah, when the lion bares his teeth, suspect his guile, 
Nor fancy that the lion shows to you a smile. 
I have slain the man that sought my heart's blood many a 
time, 

Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb, 
Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one ; 
Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on. 
And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive 
Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave ! 
The cavaliers, the night, the desert know me ; then, 
The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen ! " 2 

Finally an estrangement arose between Mutanabbi and 
Sayfii '1-Dawla, in consequence of which he fled to Egypt 
and attached himself to the Ikhshfdite Kafiir. Disappointed 
in his new patron, a negro who had formerly been a slave, the 
poet set off for Baghdad, and afterwards visited the court of 
the Buwayhid 'Adudu '1-Dawla at Shiraz. While travelling 
through Babylonia he was attacked and slain by brigands in 

965 A.D. 

The popularity of Mutanabbi is shown by the numerous 
commentaries 3 and critical treatises on his Dlwdn. By his 
countrymen he is generally regarded as one of the greatest of 
Arabian poets, while not a few would maintain that he ranks 

1 Literally, li Do not imagine fat in one whose (apparent) fat is (really) a 
tumour." 

2 Dlwdn, ed. by Dieterici, pp. 481-484. 

3 The most esteemed commentary is that of Watiidi (f 1075 a.d.), which 
has been published by Fr. Dieterici in "his edition of Mutanabbi (Berlin, 
1858-1861). 



3o8 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



absolutely first. Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arn, himself an illustrious 
poet and man of letters, confessed that he had sometimes 
wished to alter a word here and there in Mutanabbi's verses, 
but had never been able to think of any improvement. " As 
to his poetry," says Ibn Khallikan, " it is perfection." 
European scholars, with the exception of Von Hammer, 1 
have been far from sharing this enthusiasm, as may be seen by 
referring to what has been said on the subject by Reiske, 2 De 
Sacy,3 Bohlen,4 Brockelmann,5 and others. No doubt, accord- 
ing to our canons of taste, Mutanabbf stands immeasurably 
below the famous Pre-islamic bards, and in a later age must 
yield the palm to Abu Nuwas and Abu 'l-'Atahiya. Lovers 
of poetry, as the term is understood in Europe, cannot derive 
much aesthetic pleasure from his writings, but, on the contrary, 
will be disgusted by the beauties hardly less than by the faults 
which Arabian critics attribute to him. Admitting, however, 
that only a born Oriental is able to appreciate Mutanabbf at 
his full worth, let us try to realise the Oriental point of view 
and put aside, as far as possible, our preconceptions of what 
constitutes good poetry and good taste. Fortunately we 
possess abundant materials for such an attempt in the in- 
valuable work of Tha'alibi, which has been already mentioned. 6 
Tha'alibi (961-1038 a.d.) was nearly contemporary with 
Mutanabbi. He began to write his Tatima about thirty 
years after the poet's death, and while he bears witness to 

1 Motenebbi, der grosste arabische Dichter (Vienna, 1824). 

2 Abulfedce Annates Muslemici (Hafniae, 1789, &c), vol. ii, p. 774. Cf. 
his notes on Tarafa's Mu'allaqa, of which he published an edition in 
1742. 

3 Chrestomathie Arabe (2nd edition), vol. iii, p. 27 sqq. Journal des 
Savans, January, 1825, p. 24 sqq. 

* Commentatio de Motenabbio (Bonn, 1824). 

s Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (Weimar, 1898, &c.), vol. i, p. 86. 

6 I have made free use of Dieterici's excellent work entitled Mutanabbi 
und Seifuddaula aus der Edelperle des Tsadlibi (Leipzig, 1847), which 
contains on pp. 49-74 an abstract of Tha'alibi's criticism in the fifth 
chapter of the First Part of the Yatima. 



MUTANABBt 



309 



the unrivalled popularity of the Dlwdn amongst all classes 
of society, he observes that it was sharply criticised as well as 
rapturously admired. Tha'&libf himself claims to hold the 
balance even. " Now," he says, " I will mention the faults 
and blemishes which critics have found in the poetry of 
Mutanabbi ; for is there any one whose qualities give entire 
satisfaction ? — 

Kafa '1-maSa fadl an an tu'adda ma'ayibuh. 

Tis the height of merit in a man that his faults can be 
numbered. 

Then I will proceed to speak of his beauties and to set forth 
in due order the original and incomparable characteristics of 
his style. 

The radiant stars with beauty strike our eyes 
Because midst gloom opaque we see them rise." 

It was deemed of capital importance that the opening 
couplet [mafia*) of a poem should be perfect in form and 
meaning, and that it should not contain anything likely 
to offend. Tha'dliM brings forward many instances in which 
Mutanabbi has violated this rule by using words of bad omen, 
such as * sickness ' or * death,' or technical terms of music 
and arithmetic which only perplex and irritate the hearer 
instead of winning his sympathy at the outset. He complains 
also that Mutanabbl's finest thoughts and images are too often 
followed by low and trivial ones : " he strings pearls and 
bricks together" (jama'a bayna 'l-durrati wa-l-ajurrati). 
" While he moulds the most splendid ornament, and threads 
the loveliest necklace, and weaves the most exquisite stuff of 
mingled hues, and paces superbly in a garden of roses, 
suddenly he will throw in a verse or two verses disfigured 
by far-fetched metaphors, or by obscure language and con- 
fused thought, or by extravagant affectation and excessive 



3io POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



profundity, or by unbounded and absurd exaggeration, or 
by vulgar and commonplace diction, or by pedantry and 
grotesqueness resulting from the use of unfamiliar words." 
We need not follow Tha'alibi in his illustration of these 
and other weaknesses with which he justly reproaches 
Mutanabbf, since we shall be able to form a better idea 
of the prevailing taste from those points which he singles 
out for special praise. 

In the first place he calls attention to the poet's skill in 
handling the customary erotic prelude (nasib), and particularly 
to his brilliant descriptions of Bedouin women, which were 
celebrated all over the East. As an example of this kind he 
quotes the following piece, which " is chanted in the salons on 
account of the extreme beauty of its diction, the choiceness of 
its sentiment, and the perfection of its art " : — 

" Shame hitherto was wont my tears to stay, 
But now by shame they will no more be stayed, 
So that each bone seems through its skin to sob, 
And every vein to swell the sad cascade. 
She uncovered : pallor veiled her at farewell : 
No veil 'twas, yet her cheeks it cast in shade. 
So seemed they, while tears trickled over them, 
Gold with a double row of pearls inlaid. 
She loosed three sable tresses of her hair, 
And thus of night four nights at once she made ; 
But when she lifted to the moon in heaven 
Her face, two moons together I surveyed." 1 

The critic then enumerates various beautiful and original 
features of MutanabbFs style, e.g. — 

i. His consecutive arrangement of similes in brief symmetri- 
cal clauses, thus : — 

"She shone forth like a moon, and swayed like a moringa- 
bough, 

And shed fragrance like ambergris, and gazed like a gazelle." 



* Mutanabbi, ed. by Dieterici, p. 182, vv. 3-9, omitting v. 5. 



MUTANABBf 



2. The novelty of his comparisons and images, as when he 
indicates the rapidity with which he returned to his patron and 
the shortness of his absence in these lines : — 

" I was merely an arrow in the air, 
Which falls back, finding no refuge there." 

3. The laus duplex or c two-sided panegyric ' (ai-madh 
al-muwajjah\ which may be compared to a garment having 
two surfaces of different colours but of equal beauty, as in 
the following verse addressed to Sayfu 'l-Dawla : — 

'* Were all the lives thou hast ta'en possessed by thee, 
Immortal thou and blest the world would be ! " 

Here Sayfu 'l-Dawla is doubly eulogised by the mention or 
his triumphs over his enemies as well as of the joy which all 
his friends felt in the continuance of his life and fortune. 

4. His manner of extolling his royal patron as though he 
were speaking to a friend and comrade, whereby he raises 
himself from the position of an ordinary encomiast to the same 
level with kings. 

5. His division of ideas into parallel sentences : — 

"We were in gladness, the Greeks in fear, 
The land in bustle, the sea in confusion." 

From this summary of Tha'alibi's criticism the reader will 
easily perceive that the chief merits of poetry were then con- 
sidered to lie in elegant expression, subtle combination or 
words, fanciful imagery, witty conceits, and a striking use of 
rhetorical figures. Such, indeed, are the views which prevail 
to this day throughout the whole Muhammadan world, and it 
is unreasonable to denounce them as false simply because they 
do not square with ours. Who shall decide when nations 
disagree ? If Englishmen rightly claim to be the best judges 
of Shakespeare, and Italians of Dante, the almost unanimous 



312 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



verdict of Mutanabbfs countrymen is surely not less authorita- 
tive — a verdict which places him at the head of all the poets 
born or made in Islam. And although the peculiar excellences 
indicated by Tha'alibi do not appeal to us, there are few poets 
that leave so distinct an impression 01 greatness. One might 
call Mutanabbi the Victor Hugo of the East, for he has the 
grand style whether he soars to sublimity or sinks to fustian. 
In the masculine vigour of his verse, in the sweep and 
splendour of his rhetoric, in the luxuriance and reckless 
audacity of his imagination we recognise qualities which 
inspired the oft-quoted lines of the elegist :-— 

" Him did his mighty soul supply 
With regal pomp and majesty. 
A Prophet by his diction known ; 
But in the ideas, all must own, 
His miracles were clearly shown." 1 

One feature of Mutanabbi's poetry that is praised by 
Tha'alibl should not be left unnoticed, namely, his fondness 
for sententious moralising on topics connected with human 
life ; wherefore Reiske has compared him to Euripides. He 
is allowed to be a master of that proverbial philosophy in 
which Orientals delight and which is characteristic of the 
modern school beginning with Abu 'l-'Atihiya, though some 
of the ancients had already cultivated it with success (cf, 
the verses of Zuhayr, p. 118 supra). The following examples 
are among those cited by Bohlen (op. cit., p. 86 sqq.) : — 

" When an old man cries 1 Ugh ! ' he is not tired 
Of life, but only tired of feebleness." 2 

"He that hath been familiar with the world 
A long while, in his eye 'tis turned about 
Until he sees how false what looked so fair." 3 



1 The author of these lines, which are quoted by Ibn Khallikan in his 
article on Mutanabbi, is Abu '1-Qasim b. al-Muzaffar b. 'AH al-Tabasi. 

2 Mutanabbi, ed. by Dieterici, p. 581, v. 27. 3 Ibid., p. 472, v. 5. 



MUTANABBf 



313 



"The sage's mind still makes him miserable 
In his most happy fortune, but poor fools 
Find happiness even in their misery." 1 

The sceptical and pessimistic tendencies of an age of social 
decay and political anarchy are unmistakably revealed in the 
writings of the poet, philosopher, and man of 
ai-Ma'am (973- letters, Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri, who was born 

1057 a.d.). a.d. at Ma'arratu 'l-Nu'man, a Syrian 

town situated about twenty miles south of Aleppo on the 
caravan road to Damascus. While yet a child he had an 
attack of small-pox, resulting in partial and eventually in 
complete blindness, but this calamity, fatal as it might seem 
to literary ambition, was repaired if not entirely made good 
by his stupendous powers of memory. After being educated 
at home under the eye of his father, a man of some culture 
and a meritorious poet, he proceeded to Aleppo, which was 
still a flourishing centre of the humanities, though it could no 
longer boast such a brilliant array of poets and scholars as 
were attracted thither in the palmy days of Sayfu '1-Dawla. 
Probably Abu 'l-'Ala did not enter upon the career of a 
professional encomiast, to which he seems at first to have 
inclined : he declares in the preface to his Saqtu 'I-Zand that 
he never eulogised any one with the hope of gaining a reward, 
but only for the sake of practising his skill. On the termina- 
tion of his c Wanderjahre ' he returned in 993 a.d. to 
Ma'arra, where he spent the next fifteen years of his life, 
with no income beyond a small pension of thirty dinars (which 
he shared with a servant), lecturing on Arabic poetry, antiqui- 
ties, and philology, the subjects to which his youthful studies 
had been chiefly devoted. During this period his reputation 
was steadily increasing, and at last, to adapt what Boswell 
wrote of Dr. Johnson on a similar occasion, " he thought of 
trying his fortune in Baghdad, the great field of genius and 



1 Mutanabbi, ed. by Dieterici, p. 341, v. 8. 



314 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



exertion, where talents of every kind had the fullest scope 
and the highest encouragement." Professor Margoliouth in 
the Introduction to his edition of Abu '1-' Ala's 

"aghdld. correspondence supplies many interesting particu- 
lars of the literary society at Baghdad in which the 
poet moved. " As in ancient Rome, so in the great Muham- 
madan cities public recitation was the mode whereby men of 
letters made their talents known to their contemporaries. 
From very early times it had been customary to employ the 
mosques for this purpose ; and in Abu 'l-'Ala's time poems 
were recited in the mosque of al-Mansur in Baghdad. Better 
accommodation was, however, provided by the Maecenates 
who took a pride in collecting savants and litterateurs in their 
houses." 1 Such a Maecenas was the Sharif al-Radf, himself 
a celebrated poet, who founded the Academy called by his 
name in imitation, probably, of that founded some years 
before by Abu Nasr Sabur b. Ardashir, Vizier to the Bu way hid 
prince, Baha'u '1-Dawla. Here Abu 'l-'Ald met a number of 
distinguished writers and scholars who welcomed him as one 
of themselves. The capital of Islam, thronged with travellers 
and merchants from all parts of the East, harbouring followers 
of every creed and sect — Christians and Jews, Buddhists and 
Zoroastrians, Sabians and Sufis, Materialists and Rationalists — 
must have seemed to the provincial almost like a new world. 
It is certain that Abu 'l-'Ala, a curious observer who set no 
bounds to his thirst for knowledge, would make the best use 
of such an opportunity. The religious and philosophical ideas 
with which he was now first thrown into contact gradually 
took root and ripened. His stay in Baghdad, though it lasted 
only a year and a half (1009-1010 a.d.), decided the whole 
bent of his mind for the future. 

Whether his return to Ma'arra was hastened, as he says, by 
want of means and the illness of his mother, whom he 
tenderly loved, or by an indignity which he suffered at the 
1 Margoliouth's Introduction to the Letters of Abu 'l-'Ald, p. xxii. 



ABU 'L-'ALA AL-MA'ARRl 315 



hands of an influential patron, 1 immediately on his arrival he 
shut himself in his house, adopted a vegetarian diet and other 
ascetic practices, and passed the rest of his long life in com- 
parative seclusion : — 

" Methinks, I am thrice imprisoned — ask not me 
Of news that need no telling — 
By loss of sight, confinement to my house, 
And this vile body for my spirit's dwelling." 2 

We can only conjecture the motives which brought about this 
sudden change of habits and disposition. No doubt his mother's 
death affected him deeply, and he may have been disappointed 
by his failure to obtain a permanent footing in the capital. It 
is not surprising that the blind and lonely man, looking back 
on his faded youth, should have felt weary of the world and 
its ways, and found in melancholy contemplation of earthly 
vanities ever fresh matter for the application and development 
of these philosophical ideas which, as we have seen, were 
probably suggested to him by his recent experiences. While 
in the collection of early poems, entitled Saqtu 'l-Zand or 'The 
Spark of the Fire-stick ' and mainly composed before his visit 
to Baghdad, he still treads the customary path of his pre- 
decessors^ his poems written after that time and generally 
known as the Luzumiyydt* arrest attention by their boldness 
and originality as well as by the sombre and earnest tone which 
pervades them. This, indeed, is not the view of most Oriental 
critics, who dislike the poet's irreverence and fail to appreciate 
the fact that he stood considerably in advance of his age ; but 
in Europe he has received full justice and perhaps higher 

1 Ibid., p. xxvii seq. 

2 Luzumiyydt (Cairo, 1891), vol. i, p. 201. 

3 I.e., his predecessors of the modern school. Like Mutanabbi, he 
ridicules the conventional types (asdlib) in which the old poetry is cast 
Cf. Goldziher, Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie, Part 1, p. 146 seq. 

4 The proper title is Luzumu md Id yalzam, referring to a technical 
difficulty which the poet unnecessarily imposed on himself with regard 
to the rhyme. 



316 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



praise than he deserves. Reiske describes him as 'Arabice 
callentissimum, vasti, subtilis, sublimis et audacis ingenii ' ; 1 
Von Hammer, who ranks him as a poet with Abu Tammam, 
Buhturf, and Mutanabbf, also mentions him honourably as a 
philosopher ; 2 and finally Von Kremer, who made an exhaustive 
study of the Luzumiyy at and examined their contents in a masterly 
essay,3 discovered in Abu 'l-'Ala, one of the greatest moralists 
of all time whose profound genius anticipated much that is 
commonly attributed to the so-called modern spirit of en- 
lightenment. Here Von Kremer's enthusiasm may have 
carried him too far ; for the poet, as Proressor Margoliouth 
says, was unconscious of the value of his suggestions, unable 
to follow them out, and unable to adhere to them consistently. 
Although he builded better than he knew, the constructive 
side of his philosophy was overshadowed by the negative and 
destructive side, so that his pure and lofty morality leaves but a 
faint impression which soon dies away in louder, continually 
recurring voices of doubt and despair. 

Abu 'l-'Ala is a firm monotheist, but his belief in God 
amounted, as it would seem, to little beyond a conviction that 
all things are governed by inexorable Fate, whose mysteries 
none may fathom and from whose omnipotence there is no 
escape. He denies the Resurrection of the dead, e.g. : — 

" We laugh, but inept is our laughter ; 
We should weep and weep sore, 
Who are shattered like glass, and thereafter 
Re-moulded no more ! " 4 



1 Abulfedce Annates Muslemici, ed. by Adler (1789-1794), vol. iii, p. 677. 

2 Liter aturgesch. der Araber, vol. vi, p. 900 sqq. 

3 Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Classe der Kaiserlichen 
Akademie der Wissenschaften, vol. cxvii, 6th Abhandlung (Vienna, 1889). 
Select passages admirably rendered by Von Kremer into German verse 
will be found in the Z.D.M.G., vol. 29, pp. 304-312 ; vol. 30, pp. 40-52 ; 
vol. 31, pp. 471-483 ; vol. 38, pp. 499-529- 

4 Z.D.M.G., vol. 38, p. 507 ; Margoliouth, op. cit, p. 131, 1. 15 of the 
Arabic text. 



ABU 'L-'ALA AL-MA'ARRf 317 



Since Death is the ultimate goal of mankind, the sage will 
pray to be delivered as speedily as possible from the miseries of 
life and refuse to inflict upon others what, by no fault of his 
own, he is doomed to suffer : — 

"Amends are richly due from sire to son : 
What if thy children rule o'er cities great ? 
That eminence estranges them the more 
From thee, and causes them to wax in hate, 
Beholding one who cast them into Life's 
Dark labyrinth whence no wit can extricate." 1 

There are many passages to the same effect, showing that 
Abu 'l-'Ala regarded procreation as a sin and universal anni- 
hilation as the best hope for humanity. He acted in accord- 
ance with his opinions, for he never married, and he is said to 
have desired that the following verse should be inscribed on 
his grave : — 

"This wrong was by my father done 
To me, but ne'er by me to one." 2 

Hating the present life and weary of its burdens, yet seeing 
no happier prospect than that of return to non-existence, Abu 
'l-'Ala can scarcely have disguised from himself what he might 
shrink openly to avow — that he was at heart, not indeed an 
atheist, but wholly incredulous of any Divine revelation. 
Religion, as he conceives it, is a product of the human mind, 
in which men believe through force of habit and education, 
never stopping to consider whether it is true. 

"Sometimes you may find a man skilful in his trade, perfect in 
sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to 
religion he is found obstinate, so does he follow the old groove. 
Piety is implanted in human nature ; it is deemed a sure refuge. 



1 Z.D.M.G., vol. 29, p. 308. 

8 Margoliouth, op. ciL, p. 133 of the Arabic text. 



318 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



To the growing child that which falls from his elders' lips is a 
lesson that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and 
devotees in the mosques accept their creed just as a story is handed 
down from him who tells it, without distinguishing between a true 
interpreter and a false. If one of these had found his kin among 
the Magians, he would have declared himself a Magian, or among 
the Sabians, he would have become nearly or quite like them" 1 

Religion, then, is "a fable invented by the ancients," 
worthless except to those unscrupulous persons who prey upon 
human folly and superstition. Islam is neither better nor 
worse than any other creed : — 

" Ham'fs are stumbling, 2 Christians all astray, 
Jews wildered, Magians far on error's way. 
We mortals are composed of two great schools — 
Enlightened knaves or else religious fools." 3 

Not only does the poet emphatically reject the proud claim 
of Islam to possess a monopoly of truth, but he attacks most 
of its dogmas in detail. As to the Koran, Abu 'l-'Ala could 
not altogether refrain from doubting if it was really the Word 
of God, but he thought so well of the style that he accepted 
the challenge flung down by Muhammad and produced a rival 
work [al-Fusul wa-l-Ghayat\ which appears to have been a 
somewhat frivolous parody of the sacred volume, though in the 
author's judgment its inferiority was simply due to the fact 
that it was not yet polished by the tongues of four centuries or 
readers. Another work which must have sorely offended 
orthodox Muhammadans is the Risdlatu H-Ghufran (Epistle or 
Forgiveness).4 Here the Paradise of the Faithful becomes 

1 This passage occurs in Abu '1- 'Ala's Risdlatu 'l-Ghufrdn (see infra), 
J.R.A.S. for 1902, p. 351. Cf. the verses translated by Von Kremer in 
his essay on Abu 'l-'Ala, p. 23. 

2 For the term ' Hanif ' see p. 149 supra. Here it is synonymous with 
1 Muslim.' 3 Z.D.M.G., vol. 38, p. 513. 

4 This work, of which only two copies exist in Europe — one at Con- 
stantinople and another in my collection — has been described and partially 
translated in the J.R.A.S. for 1900, pp. 637-720, and for 1902, pp. 75-101, 
337-302, and 813-847. 



ABU 'L-'ALA AL-MA l ARR/ 319 



a glorified salon tenanted by various heathen poets who have 
been forgiven — hence the title — and received among the Blest. 
This idea is carried out with much ingenuity and in a spirit 
of audacious burlesque that reminds us of Lucian. The poets 
are presented in a series of imaginary conversations with a 
certain Shaykh *Ali b. Mansur, to whom the work is addbf^ed, 
reciting and explaining their verses, quarrelling with one 
another, and generally behaving as literary Bohemians. The 
second part contains a number of anecdotes relating to the 
zindlqs or freethinkers of Islam interspersed with quotations 
from their poetry and reflections on the nature of their belief, 
which Abu '1- 'Ala condemns while expressing a pious hope 
that they are not so black as they paint themselves. At this 
time it may have suited him — he was over sixty — to assume 
the attitude of charitable orthodoxy. Like so many wise men 
of the East, he practised dissimulation as a fine art — 

"I lift my voice to utter lies absurd, 
But when I speak the truth, my hushed tones scarce are 
heard." 1 

In the Luzumiyydt, however, he often unmasks. Thus he 
describes as idolatrous relics the two Pillars of the Ka'ba and 
the Black Stone, venerated by every Moslem, and calls the 
Pilgrimage itself ' a heathen's journey ' {rthlatu jdhiliyy in ). 
The following sentiments do him honour, but they would 
have been rank heresy at Mecca : — 

" Praise God and pray, 
Walk seventy times, not seven, the Temple round — 
And impious remain ! 
Devout is he alone who, when he may 
Feast his desires, is found 
With courage to abstain." 2 



1 Margoliouth, op. cit., p. 132, last line of the Arabic text. 
3 Z.D.M.G, vol. 31, p. 483. 



320 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



It is needless to give further instances of the poet's contempt 
for the Muhammadan articles of faith. Considering that he 
assailed persons as well as principles, and lashed with bitter 
invective the powerful class of the ^Ulamdy the clerical and 
legal representatives of Islam, we may wonder that the accu- 
sal^ of heresy brought against him was never pushed home 
and had no serious consequences. The question was warmly 
argued on both sides, and though Abu 'l-'Ala was pronounced 
by the majority to be a freethinker and materialist, he did not 
lack defenders who quoted chapter and verse to prove that he 
was nothing of the kind. It must be remembered that his 
works contain no philosophical system ; that his opinions have 
to be gathered from the ideas which he scatters incoherently, 
and for the most part in guarded language, through a long 
succession of rhymes ; and that this task, already arduous 
enough, is complicated by the not inrrequent occurrence of 
sentiments which are blamelessly orthodox and entirely con- 
tradictory to the rest. A brilliant writer, familiar with 
Eastern ways of thinking, has observed that in general the 
conscience of an Asiatic is composed of the following in- 
gredients : (i) an almost bare religious designation; (2) a 
more or less lively belief in certain doctrines of the creed 
which he professes; (3) a resolute opposition to many of its 
doctrines, even if they should be the most essential ; (4) a 
fund of ideas relating to completely alien theories, which 
occupies more or less room ; (5) a constant tendency to get 
rid of these ideas and theories and to replace the old by new. 1 
Such phenomena will account for a great deal of logical incon- 
sistency, but we should beware of invoking them too con- 
fidently in this case. Abu '1- 'Ala with his keen intellect and 
unfanatical temperament was not the man to let himself be 
mystified. Still lamer is the explanation offered by some 
Muhammadan critics, that his thoughts were decided by the 

1 De Gobineau, Les religions et les philosophies dans VAsie centrale, 
p. 11 seq. 



ABU 'L-'ALA AL-MA'ARRt 321 



necessities of the difficult metre in which he wrote. It is 
conceivable that he may sometimes have doubted his own 
doubts and given Islam the benefit, but Von Kremer's con- 
clusion is probably near the truth, namely, that where the 
poet speaks as a good Moslem, his phrases if they are not 
purely conventional are introduced of set purpose to foil his 
pious antagonists or to throw them off the scent. Although 
he was not without religion in the larger sense or the word, 
unprejudiced students of the later poems must recognise that 
from the orthodox standpoint he was justly branded as an 
infidel. The following translations will serve to illustrate the 
negative side of his philosophy : — 

"Falsehood hath so corrupted all the world 
That wrangling sects each other's gospel chide ; 
But were not hate Man's natural element, 
Churches and mosques had risen side by side." 1 

" What is Religion ? A maid kept close that no eye may view 
her ; 

The price of her wedding-gifts and dowry baffles the wooer. 
Of all the goodly doctrine that I from the pulpit heard 
My heart has never accepted so much as a single word!" 2 

"The pillars of this earth are four, 
Which lend to human life a base ; 
God shaped two vessels, Time and Space, 
The world and all its folk to store. 

That which Time holds, in ignorance 

It holds — why vent on it our spite ? 

Man is no cave-bound eremite, 
But still an eager spy on Chance 

He trembles to be laid asleep, 
Tho' worn and old and weary grown. 
We laugh and weep by Fate alone, 

Time moves us not to laugh or weep ; 



1 \Z.D.M.G., vol. 31, p. 477. 2 Ibid., vol. 29, p. 311. 

22 



322 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



Yet we accuse it innocent, 

Which, could it speak, might us accuse, 
Our best and worst, at will to choose, 

United in a sinful bent. 1 

"'The stars' conjunction comes, divinely sent, 
And lo, the veil o'er every creed is rent. 
No realm is founded that escapes decay, 
The firmest structure soon dissolves away.' 2 
With sadness deep a thoughtful mind must scan 
Religion made to serve the pelf of Man. 
Fear thine own children : sparks at random flung 
Consume the very tinder whence they sprung. 
Evil are all men ; I distinguish not 
That part or this : the race entire I blot. 
Trust none, however near akin, tho' he 
A perfect sense of honour show to thee, 
Thy self is the worst foe to be withstood : 
Be on thy guard in hours of solitude. 

>!< j|c 5{C jjs 

Desire a venerable shaykh to cite 

Reason for his doctrine, he is gravelled quite. 

What ! shall I ripen ere a leaf is seen ? 

The tree bears only when 'tis clad in green.' 3 

" How have I provoked your enmity ? 
Christ or Muhammad, 'tis one to me. 
No rays of dawn our path illume, 
We are sunk together in ceaseless gloom. 
Can blind perceptions lead aright, 
Or blear eyes ever have clear sight ? 
Well may a body racked with pain 
Envy mouldering bones in vain j 
Yet comes a day when the weary sword 
Reposes, to its sheath restored. 



1 Z.D.M.G. vol. 38, p. 522. 

2 According to De Goeje, Memoires sur les Carmathes du Bahrain, 
p. 197, n. 1, these lines refer to a prophecy made by the Carmathians 
that the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which took place in 1047 a.d. 
would herald the final triumph of the Fatimids over the 'Abbasids. 

3 Z.D.M.G., vol. 38, p. 504. 



ABU 'L- ( ALA AL-MA'ARRl 323 



Ah, who to me a frame will give 

As clod or stone insensitive? — 

For when spirit is joined to flesh, the pair 

Anguish of mortal sickness share. 

O Wind, be still, if wind thy name, 

O Flame, die out, if thou art flame ! " 1 

Pessimist and sceptic as he was, Abu 'l- c Ala denies more 
than he affirms, but although he rejected the dogmas of 
positive religion, he did not fall into utter unbelief ; for he 
found within himself a moral law to which he could not 
refuse obedience. 

"Take Reason for thy guide and do what she 
Approves, the best of counsellors in sooth. 
Accept no law the Pentateuch lays down : 
Not there is what thou seekest — the plain truth." 2 

He insists repeatedly that virtue is its own reward. 

" Oh, purge the good thou dost from hope of recompense 
Or profit, as if thou wert one that sells his wares." 3 

His creed is that of a philosopher and ascetic. Slay no 
living creature, he says ; better spare a flea than give alms. 
Yet he prefers active piety, active humanity, to fasting and 
prayer. " The gist of his moral teaching is to inculcate as 
the highest and holiest duty a conscientious fulfilment of 
one's obligations with equal warmth and affection towards 
all living beings." 4 

Abu 'l-'Ala died in 1057 A « D -5 at tne a ge of eighty-four. 
About ten years before this time, the Persian poet and 
traveller, Nasir-i Khusraw, passed through Ma'arra on his 
way to Egypt. He describes Abu 'l-'Ala as the chief 
man in the town, very rich, revered by the inhabitants, 
and surrounded by more than two hundred students who 
came from all parts to attend his lectures on literature and 

1 Z.D.M.G., vol. 31, p. 474. 2 Luzumiyydt (Cairo, 1891), i, 394. 

3 Ibid., i, 312. 4 Von Kremer, op. cit., p. 38. 



324 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



poetry. 1 We may set this trustworthy notice against the 
doleful account which Abu 'l-'Ala gives of himself in his 
letters and other works. If not among the greatest Muham- 
madan poets, he is undoubtedly one of the most original 
and attractive. After MutanabM, even after Abu 'l-'Atihiya, 
he must appear strangely modern to the European reader. 
It is astonishing to reflect that a spirit so unconventional, so 
free from dogmatic prejudice, so rational in spite of his 
pessimism and deeply religious notwithstanding his attacks 
on revealed religion, should have ended his life in a Syrian 
country-town some years before the battle of Senlac. Al- 
though he did not meddle with politics and held aloof from 
every sect, he could truly say of himself, " I am the son or 
my time " (ghadawtu 9 bna waqti). 2 His poems leave no 
aspect of the age untouched, and present a vivid picture 
of degeneracy and corruption, in which tyrannous rulers, 
venal judges, hypocritical and unscrupulous theologians, 
swindling astrologers, roving swarms of dervishes and god- 
less Carmathians occupy a prominent place.3 

Although the reader may think that too much space has 
been already devoted to poetry, I will venture by way of 
concluding the subject to mention very briefly a few well- 
known names which cannot be altogether omitted from a 
work of this kind. 

Abu Tammam (Habib b. Aws) and Buhtun, both of whom 
flourished in the ninth century, were distinguished court poets 
of the same type as MutanabM, but their reputa- 
Ind^uhtS? t ^ on rests more securely on the anthologies which 
they compiled under the title of Hamdsa (see 
p. 129 seq.). 

1 Safar-ndma, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the translation. 

2 Luzumiyydt, ii, 280. The phrase does not mean " I am the child of 
my age," but " I live in the present," forgetful of the past and careless 
what the future may bring. 

3 See Von Kremer, op. cit., p. 46 sqq. 



IBNU 'L-MU'TAZZ AND IBNU 'L-FARID 325 



Abu VAbbas 'Abdullah, the son of the Caliph al-Mu'tazz, 
was a versatile poet and man of letters, who showed his 

originality by the works which he produced in 
(^^/ldT two nove l styles of composition. It has often 

been remarked that the Arabs have no great 
epos like the Iliad or the Persian Shdhndma, but only prose 
narratives which, though sometimes epical in tone, are better 
described as historical romances. Ibnu '1-Mu'tazz could not 
supply the deficiency. He wrote, however, in praise of his 
cousin, the Caliph Mu'tadid, a metrical epic in miniature, 
commencing with a graphic delineation of the wretched state 
to which the Empire had been reduced by the rapacity and 
tyranny of the Turkish mercenaries. He composed also, 
besides an anthology of Bacchanalian pieces, the first impor- 
tant work on Poetics {Kttabu 'I- Bad}'). A sad destiny was 
in store for this accomplished prince. On the death of the 
Caliph Muktarl he was called to the throne, but a few hours 
after his accession he was overpowered by the partisans of 
Muqtadir, who strangled him as soon as they discovered his 
hiding-place. Picturing the scene, one thinks almost inevit- 
ably of Nero's dying words, Qualis artifex pereo ! 

The mystical poetry of the Arabs is far inferior, as a whole, 
to that of the Persians. Fervour and passion it has in the 
highest degree, but it lacks range and substance, 

'Umar Ibnu 1 c . . 

•i-Farid not to speak: or imaginative and speculative 
11 1 1235 a.d.). p Qwen <Umar Ibnu '1-Farid, though he is 
undoubtedly the poet of Arabian mysticism, cannot sustain a 
comparison with his great Persian contemporary, Jalalu'l-Din 
Rumi (t 1273 A ' B ') j ne surpasses him only in the intense 
glow and exquisite beauty of his diction. It will be con- 
venient to reserve a further account of Ibnu 'l-Farid for the 
next chapter, where we shall discuss the development of 
Sufiism during this period. 

Finally two writers claim attention who owe their reputa- 



326 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



tion to single poems — a by no means rare phenomenon in 
the history of Arabic literature. One of these universally 
celebrated odes is the Ldmiyyatu y l-*-Ajam (the ode rhyming 
in / of the non-Arabs) composed in the year mi a.d. by 
Tughra'i ; the other is the Bur da (Mantle Ode) of BusM, 
which I take the liberty of mentioning in this chapter, 
although its author died some forty years after the Mongol 
Invasion. 

Hasan b. 'AH al-Tughra'i was of Persian descent and a 
native of Isfahan. 1 He held the offices of kdtib (secretary) 
and munshl or tughra i (chancellor) under the 
(tav?a r ii2o great Seljuq Sultans, Malikshah and Muham- 
mad, and afterwards became Vizier to the 
Seljuqid prince Ghiyathu '1-Din Mas'iid 2 in Mosul. He 
derived the title by which he is generally known from the 
royal signature {tughra) which it was his duty to indite on 
all State papers over the initial Bismilldh. The Ldmiyyatu 
U-^Ajam is so called with reference to Shanfara's renowned 
poem, the Ldmiyyatu H-^Arab (see p. 79 seq.), which rhymes 
in the same letter ; otherwise the two odes have only this 
in common,3 that whereas Shanfara depicts the hardships of 
an outlaw's life in the desert, Tughra'f, writing in Baghdad, 
laments the evil times on which he has fallen, and complains 
that younger rivals, base and servile men, are preferred to 
him, while he is left friendless and neglected in his old age. 

The Qasidatu U-Burda (Mantle Ode) of al-Busfr{4 is a 

1 See the article on Tughra'i in Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, 
vol. i, p. 462. 

2 Ibid., vol. iii, p. 355- 

3 The spirit of fortitude and patience {hamdsa) is exhibited by both 
poets, but in a very different manner. Shanfara describes a man of 
heroic nature. Tughra'i wraps himself in his virtue and moralises like 
a Muhammadan Horace. Safadi, however, says in his commentary on 
Tughra'i's ode (I translate from an MS. copy in my possession) : " It is 
named Ldmiyyatu 'l-'Ajam by way of comparing it with the Ldmiyyatu 
7-' Arab, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and maxims." 

* I.e., the native of Abusir (Busir), a village in Egypt. 



TUGHRAt AND BUSfRf 327 



hymn in praise of the Prophet. Its author was born in 
Egypt in 1212 a.d. We know scarcely anything con- 
cerning his life, which, as he himself declares, 
B i296 A.SIJ'f was P asse d in writing poetry and in paying court 
to the great 1 ; but his biographers tell us that 
he supported himself by copying manuscripts, and that he 
was a disciple of the eminent Sufi, Abu 'l-'Abbas Ahmad 
al-Marsi. It is said that he composed the Burda while 
suffering from a stroke which paralysed one half of his 
body. After praying God to heal him, he began to recite 
the poem. Presently he fell asleep and dreamed that he 
saw the Prophet, who touched his palsied side and threw his 
mantle {burda) over him. 2 "Then," said al-Busiri, "I awoke 
and found myself able to rise." However this may be, the 
Mantle Ode is held in extraordinary veneration by Muham- 
madans. Its verses are often learned by heart and inscribed 
in golden letters on the walls of public buildings ; and not 
only is the whole poem regarded as a charm against evil, 
but some peculiar magical power is supposed to reside in 
each verse separately. Although its poetical merit is no more 
than respectable, the Burda may be read with pleasure on 
account of its smooth and elegant style, and with interest as 
setting forth in brief compass the mediaeval legend of the 
Prophet — a legend full of prodigies and miracles in which 
the historical figure of Muhammad is glorified almost beyond 
recognition. 

Rhymed prose (saj c ) long retained the religious associations 
which it possessed in Pre-islamic times and which were 
consecrated, for all Moslems, by its use in the Koran. 
About the middle of the ninth century it began to appear 

1 The Burda, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, i860), verse 140 ; La Bordah 
traduite et commentee 'par Rene Basset (Paris, 1894), verse 151. 

2 This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Muhammad gave 
his own mantle as a gift to Ka'b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited his 
famous ode, Bdnat Su l dd (see p. 127 supra). 



328 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



in the public sermons [khutab, sing, khutba) of the Caliphs 
and their viceroys, and it was still further developed by pro- 
fessional preachers, like Ibn Nubata (t 084 a.d.), 

Rhymed prose. . . ... T1 tt-im 

and by official secretaries, like Ibrahim b. Hilal 
al-Sabi (t 994 a.d.). Henceforth rhyme becomes a distinctive 
and almost indispensable feature of rhetorical prose. 

The credit of inventing, or at any rate of making popular, a 
new and remarkable form of composition in this style belongs 

to al-Hamadhani (t 1007 a.d.), on whom pos- 
al-Hamadharri terity conferred the title BadPu U-Zamdn, 2.1., 
(f 1007 a.d.). ( ^ e Wonder or the Age.' Born in Hamadhan 
(Ecbatana), he left his native town as a young man and 
travelled through the greater part of Persia, living by his 
wits and astonishing all whom he met by his talent for 
improvisation. His Maqdmdt may be called a romance or 
literary Bohemianism. In the maqdma we find some ap- 
proach to the dramatic style, which has never been culti- 
vated by the Semites. 1 Hamadhan! imagined as his hero a 
witty, unscrupulous vagabond journeying from place to place 
and supporting himself by the presents which his impromptu 
displays of rhetoric, poetry, and learning seldom failed to 
draw from an admiring audience. The second character is 
the rdwl or narrator, " who should be continually meeting 
with the other, should relate his adventures, and repeat his 
excellent compositions." 2 The Maqdmdt 01 Hamadhanf 

1 Maqdma (plural, maqdmdt) is properly 1 a place of standing ' ; hence, 
an assembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in particular, 
an assembly for literary discussion. At an early period reports of such 
conversations and discussions received the name of maqdmdt (see Brockel- 
mann, Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur, vol. i, p. 94). The word in its literary 
sense is usually translated by ' assembly,' or by the French 'seance.' 

2 The Assemblies of al-Harin, translated from the Arabic, with an intro- 
duction and notes by T. Chenery (1867), vol. i, p. 19. This excellent work 
contains a fund of information on diverse matters connected with Arabian 
history and literature. Owing to the author's death it was left unfinished, 
but a second volume (including Assemblies 27-50) by F. Steingass 
appeared in 1898. 



BADPU 'L-ZAMAN A L-HA M A DHAnI 329 



became the model for this kind of writing, and the types 
which he created survive unaltered in the more elaborate 
work of his successors. Each maqama forms an independent 
whole, so that the complete series may be regarded as a 
novel consisting of detached episodes in the hero's life, a 
medley of prose and verse in which the story is nothing, 
the style everything. 

Less original than Badi'u '1-Zaman, but far beyond him in 
variety of learning and copiousness of language, Abu 

Muhammad al-Qasim al-Harm of Basra pro- 
(ios 4 5i2a ri A.D.). duced in his Maqamat a masterpiece which for 

eight centuries " has been esteemed as, next to 
the Koran, the chief treasure of the Arabic tongue." In the 
Preface to his work he says that the composition of maqamat 
was suggested to him by " one whose suggestion is a command 
and whom it is a pleasure to obey." This was the distin- 
guished Persian statesman, Anushirwan b. Khalid, 1 who 
afterwards served as Vizier under the Caliph Mustarshid 
Billah (1118-1135 a.d.) and Sultan Mas'iid, the Seljiiq 
(1133-1152 a.d.) ; but at the time when he made Hariri's 
acquaintance he was living in retirement at Basra and devot- 
ing himself to literary studies. Hand begged to be excused 
on the score that his abilities were unequal to the task, " for 
the lame steed cannot run like the strong courser." 2 Finally, 
however, he yielded to the request of Anushirwan, and, to 
quote his own words — 

" I composed, in spite of hindrances that I suffered 
From dullness of capacity and dimness of intellect, 
And dryness of imagination and distressing anxieties, 
Fifty Maqamat, which contain serious language and lightsome, 



1 A full account of his career will be found in the Preface to Houtsma's 
Recueil de textes relatifs a I'histoire des Seldjoucides, vol. ii, p. 11 sqq. 
Cf. Browne's Lit. Hist, of Persia, vol. ii, p. 360. 

8 This is a graceful, but probably insincere, tribute to the superior 
genius of Hamadham. 



330 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 

And combine refinement with dignity of style, 
And brilliancies with jewels of eloquence, 
And beauties of literature with its rarities, 
Beside verses of the Koran wherewith I adorned them, 
And choice metaphors, and Arab proverbs that I interspersed, 
And literary elegancies and grammatical riddles, 
And decisions based on the (double) meaning of words, 
And original discourses and highly-wrought orations, 
And affecting exhortations as well as entertaining jests : 
The whole of which I have indited as by the tongue of Abu 
Zayd of Saruj, 

The part of narrator being assigned to Harith son of Hammara 
of Basra." 1 

Harfrf then proceeds to argue that his Maqdmdt are not 
mere frivolous stories such as strict Moslems are bound to 
reprobate in accordance with a well-known passage of the 
Koran referring to Nadr b. Harith, who mortally offended 
the Prophet by amusing the Quraysh with the old Persian 
legends of Rustam and Isfandiyar (Koran, xxxi, 5-6) : 
" There is one that buyeth idle tales that he may seduce men 
rom the way of God y without knowledge^ and make it a laughing- 
stock : these shall suffer a shameful punishment. And when Our 
signs are read to him y he turneth his back in disdain as though he 
heard them not y as though there were in his ears a deafness : 
give him joy of a grievous punishment ! " HarM insists that 
the Assemblies have a moral purpose. The ignorant and 
malicious, he says, will probably condemn his work, but 
intelligent readers will perceive, if they lay prejudice aside, 
that it is as useful and instructive as the fables of beasts, &c, 2 
to which no one has ever objected. That his fears of hostile 
criticism were not altogether groundless is shown by the 

1 The above passage is taken, with some modification, from the version 
of Hariri published in 1850 by Theodore Preston, Fellow of Trinity 
College, Cambridge, who was afterwards Lord Almoner's Professor of 
Arabic (1855-1871). 

2 Moslems had long been familiar with the fables of Bidpai, which 
were translated from the Pehlevi into Arabic by Ibnu '1-Muqaffa* (t circa 
760 A.D.). 



HARiRt 



33i 



following remarks of the author of the popular history- 
entitled al-Fakhri (f circa 1300 a.d.). This writer, after 
claiming that his own book is more useful than the Hamasa 
of Abu Tammdm, continues : — 

" And, again, it is more profitable than the Maqamdt on which 
men have set their hearts, and which they eagerly commit to 

Maqamdt memory \ because the reader derives no benefit from 
criticised as Maqamdt except familiarity with elegant composition 

immora . knowledge of the rules of verse and prose. Un- 

doubtedly they contain maxims and ingenious devices and expe- 
riences ; but all this has a debasing effect on the mind, for it is 
founded on begging and sponging and disgraceful scheming to 
acquire a few paltry pence. Therefore, if they do good in one 
direction, they do harm in another ; and this point has been 
noticed by some critics of the Maqamdt of Hariri and Badi'u 
'1-Zaman." 1 

Before pronouncing on the justice of this censure, we must 
consider for a moment the character of Abu Zayd, the hero 

of Hariri's work, whose adventures are related by 
Th AjriZayS ° f a certain Harith b. Hammam, under which name 

the author is supposed to signify himself. Accord- 
ing to the general tradition, Hariri was one day seated with a 
number of savants in the mosque of the Banu Haram at Basra, 
when an old man entered, footsore and travel-stained. On 
being asked who he was and whence he came, he answered 
that his name of honour was Abu Zayd and that he came 
from Saruj. 2 He described in eloquent and moving terms 
how his native town had been plundered by the Greeks, 
who made his daughter a captive and drove him forth to 
exile and poverty. Hariri was so struck with his wonderful 
powers of improvisation that on the same evening he began to 
compose the Maqdma of the Banu Harding where Abu Zayd 

1 Al-Fakhri, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 18, 1. 4 sqq. 

2 A town in Mesopotamia, not far from Edessa. It was taken by the 
Crusaders in 1101 a.d. (Abu '1-Fida, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332). 

3 The 48th Maqdma of the series as finally arranged. 



332 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



is introduced in his invariable character : " a crafty old man, 
full of genius and learning, unscrupulous of the artifices which 
he uses to effect his purpose, reckless in spending in forbidden 
indulgences the money he has obtained by his wit or deceit, 
but with veins of true feeling in him, and ever yielding to 
unfeigned emotion when he remembers his devastated home 
and his captive child." 1 If an immoral tendency has been 
attributed to the Assemblies of Hariri it is because the author 
does not conceal his admiration for this unprincipled and 
thoroughly disreputable scamp. Abu Zayd, indeed, is made 
so fascinating that we can easily pardon his knaveries for the 
sake of the pearls of wit and wisdom which he scatters in 
splendid profusion — excellent discourses, edifying sermons, 
and plaintive lamentations mingled with rollicking ditties 
and ribald jests. Modern readers are not likely to agree 
with the historian quoted above, but although they may 
deem his criticism illiberal, they can hardly deny that it has 
some justification. 

Hariri's rhymed prose might be freely imitated in English, 
but the difficulty of rendering it in rhyme with tolerable 
fidelity has caused me to abandon the attempt to produce 
a version of one of the Assemblies in the original form. 2 I 
will translate instead three poems which are put into the 
mouth of Abu Zayd. The first is a tender elegiac strain 
recalling far-off days of youth and happiness in his native 
land : — 

" Ghassan is my noble kindred, Saruj is my land of birth, 
Where I dwelt in a lofty mansion of sunlike glory and worth, 
A Paradise for its sweetness and beauty and pleasant mirth ! 



1 Chenery, op. cit, p. 23. 

2 This has been done with extraordinary skill by the German poet, 
Friedrich Riickert (Die Verwandlungen dcs Abu Seid von Serug, 2nd ed. 
1837), whose work, however, is not in any sense a translation. 



HARtRl 



333 



And oh, the life that I led there abounding in all delight ! 
I trailed my robe on its meadows, while Time flew a careless 
flight, 

Elate in the flower of manhood, no pleasure veiled from my 
sight. 

Now, if woe could kill, I had died of the troubles that haunt 
me here, 

Or could past joy ever be ransomed, my heart's blood had not 
been dear, 

Since death is better than living a brute's life year after year, 

Subdued to scorn as a lion whom base hyenas torment. 
But Luck is to blame, else no one had failed of his due 
ascent : 

If she were straight, the conditions of men would never be 
bent." 1 

The scene of the eleventh Assembly is laid in Sawa, a 
city lying midway between Hamadhan (Ecbatana) and 
Rayy (Rhages). " Harith, in a fit of religious zeal, betakes 
himself to the public burial ground, for the purpose of con- 
templation. He finds a funeral in progress, and when it is 
over an old man, with his face muffled in a cloak, takes his 
stand on a hillock, and pours forth a discourse on the certainty 
of death and judgment. . . . He then rises into poetry and 
declaims a piece which is one of the noblest productions of 
Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in religious fervour, in 
beauty of language, in power and grace of metre, this 
magnificent hymn is unsurpassed. " 2 

" Pretending sense in vain, how long, O light of brain, wilt thou 
heap sin and bane, and compass error's span ? 
Thy conscious guilt avow ! The white hairs on thy brow 
admonish thee, and thou hast ears unstopt, O man ! 



1 A literal translation of these verses, which occur in the sixth Assembly, 
is given by Chenery, op.cit.,p. 138. 

2 Ibid., p. 163. 



334 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



Death's call dost thou not hear ? Rings not his voice full 
clear ? Of parting hast no fear, to make thee sad and 
wise ? 

How long sunk in a sea of sloth and vanity wilt thou play 

heedlessly, as though Death spared his prize ? 
Till when, far wandering from virtue, wilt thou cling to evil 

ways that bring together vice in brief ? 
For thy Lord's anger shame thou hast none, but let maim 

o'ertake thy cherished aim, then feel'st thou burning 

grief. 

Thou hail'st with eager joy the coin of yellow die, but if a 

bier pass by, feigned is thy sorry face ; 
Perverse and callous wight ! thou scornest counsel right to 

follow the false light of treachery and disgrace. 
Thy pleasure thou dost crave, to sordid gain a slave, forgetting 

the dark grave and what remains of dole ; 
Were thy true weal descried, thy lust would not misguide nor 

thou be terrified by words that should console. 
Not tears, blood shall thine eyes pour at the great Assize, 

when thou hast no allies, no kinsman thee to save ; 
Straiter thy tomb shall be than needle's cavity : deep, deep 

thy plunge I see as diver's 'neath the wave. 
There shall thy limbs be laid, a feast for worms arrayed, till 

utterly decayed are wood and bones withal, 
Nor may thy soul repel that ordeal horrible, when o'er the 

Bridge of Hell she must escape or fall. 
Astray shall leaders go, and mighty men be low, and sages 

shall cry, ' Woe like this was never yet.' 
Then haste, my thoughtless friend, what thou hast marred to 

mend, for life draws near its end, and still thou art in 

the net. 

Trust not in fortune, nay, though she be soft and gay ; for she 

will spit one day her venom, if thou dote ; 
Abate thy haughty pride ! lo, Death is at thy side, fastening, 

whate'er betide, his fingers on thy throat. 
When prosperous, refrain from arrogant disdain, nor give thy 

tongue the rein : a modest tongue is best. 
Comfort the child of bale and listen to his tale : repair thine 

actions frail, and be for ever blest. 
Feather the nest once more of those whose little store has 

vanished : ne'er deplore the loss nor miser be ; 
With meanness bravely cope, and teach thine hand to ope, and 

spurn the misanthrope, and make thy bounty free. 



HARIRI 



335 



Lay up provision fair and leave what brings thee care : for 
sea the ship prepare and dread the rising storm. 

This, friend, is what I preach expressed in lucid speech. Good 
luck to all and each who with my creed conform ! " 

In the next Maqdma — that of Damascus — we find Abu 
Zayd, gaily attired, amidst casks and vats of wine, carousing 
and listening to the music of lutes and singing — 

" I ride and I ride through the waste far and wide, and I fling 

away pride to be gay as the swallow ; 
Stem the torrent's fierce speed, tame the mettlesome steed, 

that wherever I lead Youth and Pleasure may follow. 
I bid gravity pack, and I strip bare my back lest liquor I lack 

when the goblet is lifted : 
Did I never incline to the quaffing of wine, I had ne'er been 

with fine wit and eloquence gifted. 
Is it wonderful, pray, that an old man should stay in a well- 
stored seray by a cask overflowing ? 
Wine strengthens the knees, physics every disease, and from 

sorrow it frees, the oblivion-bestowing ! 
Oh, the purest of joys is to live sans disguise unconstrained 

by the ties of a grave reputation, 
And the sweetest of love that the lover can prove is when 

fear and hope move him to utter his passion. 
Thy love then proclaim, quench the smouldering flame, for 

'twill spark out thy shame and betray thee to laughter : 
Heal the wounds of thine heart and assuage thou the smart 

by the cups that impart a delight men seek after ; 
While to hand thee the bowl damsels wait who cajole and 

enravish the soul with eyes tenderly glancing, 
And singers whose throats pour such high-mounting notes, 

when the melody floats, iron rocks would be dancing ! 
Obey not the fool who forbids thee to pull beauty's rose when 

in full bloom thou'rt free to possess it ; 
Pursue thine end still, tho' it seem past thy skill : let them say 

what they will, take thy pleasure and bless it ! 
Get thee gone from thy sire, if he thwart thy desire ; spread 

thy nets nor enquire what the nets are receiving; 
But be true to a friend, shun the miser and spend, ways of 

charity wend, be unwearied in giving. 
He that knocks enters straight at the Merciful' s gate, so repent 

or e'er Fate call thee forth from the living !" 



336 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 

The reader may judge from these extracts whether the 
Assemblies of Hariri are so deficient in matter as some critics 
have imagined. But, of course, the celebrity of the work is 
mainly due to its consummate literary form — a point on 
which the Arabs have always bestowed singular attention. 
Hariri himself was a subtle grammarian, living in Basra, the 
home of philological science ; 1 and though he wrote to please 
rather than to instruct, he seems to have resolved that his 
work should illustrate every beauty and nicety of which the 
Arabic language is capable. We Europeans can see as little 
merit or taste in the verbal conceits— equivoques, paronoma- 
sias, assonances, alliterations, &c. — with which his pages are 
thickly studded, as in tours de force of composition which may 
be read either forwards or backwards, or which consist entirely 
of pointed or of unpointed letters ; but our impatience of such 
things should not blind us to the fact that they are intimately 
connected with the genius and traditions of the Arabic tongue, 2 
and therefore stand on a very different footing from those 
euphuistic extravagances which appear, for example, in 
English literature of the Elizabethan age. By Hariri's 
countrymen the Maqamat are prized as an almost unique 
monument of their language, antiquities, and culture. One 
of the author's contemporaries, the famous Zamakhshari, has 
expressed the general verdict in pithy verse — 

" I swear by God and His marvels, 
By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine : 
Hariri's Assemblies are worthy 
To be written in gold each line." 



1 Two grammatical treatises by I^ariri have come down to us. In one 
of these, entitled Durratu 'l-Ghawwds (' The Pearl of the Diver ') and 
edited by Thorbecke (Leipzig, 1871), he discusses the solecisms which 
people of education are wont to commit. 

2 See Chenery, op. cit, pp. 83-97. 



THE CANONICAL BOOKS 337 



Concerning some of the specifically religious sciences, such 
as Dogmatic Theology and Mysticism, we shall have more to say 

in the following chapter, while as to the science 
iite?a e ture g of U the of Apostolic Tradition (Hadith) we must refer the 

reader to what has been already said. All that 
can be attempted here is to take a passing notice of the most 
eminent writers and the most celebrated works of this epoch in 
the field of religion. 

The place of honour belongs to the Imam Mdlik b. Anas 
of Medina, whose Muwatta is the first great corpus of 

Muhammadan Law. He was a partisan of the 
facial 'Alids, and was flogged by command of the 

Caliph Mansur in consequence of his declaration 
that he did not consider the oath of allegiance to the 'Abbasid 
dynasty to have any binding effect. 

The two principal authorities for Apostolic Tradition are 
Bukhari (f 870 a.d.) and Muslim (f 875 a.d.), authors of the 

collections entitled Sahth. Compilations of a 
BU Musi!m nd narrower range, embracing only those traditions 

which bear on the Sunna or custom of the Pro- 
phet, are the Sunan of Abu Dawud al-Sijistanf (t 889 a.d.), 

the jfdmi' of Abu 'Isa Muhammad al-Tirmidhi 
The four Sunan. ^ a.d. ), the Sunan of al-Nasa'f (t 915 A.D.), 
and the Sunan of Ibn Maja (t 896 a.d.). These, together 
with the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim, form the Six Canoni- 
cal Books (al-kutub al-sitta), which are held in the highest 
veneration. Amongst the innumerable works of a similar 
kind produced in this period it will suffice to mention the 
Masdbihu U-Sunna by al-Baghawi (t circa 11 20 a.d.). A 
later adaptation called Mhhkatu U-Masdbih has been often 
printed, and is still extremely popular. 

Omitting the great manuals of Moslem Jurisprudence, 
which are without literary interest in the larger sense, we 
may pause for a moment at the name of al-Mawardi, a 
Shafi'ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise on politics — 

23 



338 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



the Kitdbu U-Jhkdm al-Sultaniyya, or c Book of the Prin- 
ciples of Government.' His standpoint is purely theoretical. 

Thus he lays down that the Caliph should be 
(twS aj!.)- elected by the body of learned, pious, and orthodox 

divines, and that the people must leave the adminis- 
tration of the State to the Caliph absolutely, as being its 
representative. Mawardi lived at Baghdad during the period 
of Buwayhid ascendancy, a period described by Sir W. Muir 
in the following words : " The pages of our annalists are now 
almost entirely occupied with the political events of the day, 
in the guidance of which the Caliphs had seldom any concern, 
and which therefore need no mention here." 1 Under the 
'Abbasid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the Suffs were 
systematised and expounded. The most important Arabic 
works of reference on Sufiism are the ^utu ^l-Qulub^ or 

'Food of Hearts,' by Abu Talib al-Makkf 
tfeTonldS: (t 996 a.d.) ; the Kitdbu H-Ta'arruf li-Madhhabi 

ahli U-Tasawwuf y or c Book of Enquiry as to the 
Religion of the Sufis,' by Muhammad b. Ishaq al-Kalabadhf 
(t circa I OOO a.d.) ; the Tabaqdtu 'I-Sufiyya, or 'Classes of the 
Sutis,' by Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (t 1021 a.d.) ; the 
Hilyatu H-Awliya^ or ' Adornment of the Saints,' by Abu 
Nu'aym al-Isfahanf (t 1038 a.d.) ; the Risdlatu'/-Qushayriyya y 
or ' Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu '1-Qasim al-Qushayrf of 
Naysabur (t 1074 a.d.) ; the Ihyau ''Ulum al-Din, or ' Revivifi- 
cation of the Religious Sciences,' by Ghazali (t 11 11 a.d.) ; 
and the ^Awdrifu 'l-Ma'drif^ or ' Bounties of Knowledge,' by 
Shihabu '1-Din Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Suhrawardf (t 1234 a.d.) 
— a list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic 

Theology there is none to compare with 
(tSSlll). Abu t^ mid ai-GhazaH, surnamed 'the Proof 

of Islam' (Hujjatu ' /-Islam). He is a figure 
of such towering importance that some detailed account of 
his life and opinions must be inserted in a book like this, 
1 The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline, and Fall, p. 573. 



ghazAli 



339 



which professes to illustrate the history of Muhammadan 
thought. Here, however, we shall only give an outline of his 
biography in order to pave the way for discussion of his intel- 
lectual achievements and his far-reaching influence. 

" In this year (505 a.h. = 1111 a.d.) died the Imam, who was the 
Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, Abu Hamid 
Muhammad ... of Tus, the Shafi'ite. His death 

a^o e rdfng h to Z fhi tooli P iace on the *4 th of the Latter J umad a at Taba- 
shadiiaratu ran, a village near Tus. He was then fifty-five 
ala ' years of age. Ghazzali is equivalent to Ghazzal, like 
'Attari (for 'Attar) and Khabbazi (for Khabbaz), in the dialect of the 
people of Khurasan 1 : so it is stated by the author of the 'Ibar* 
Al-Isnawi says in his Tabaqdt 3 : — Ghazzali is an Imam by whose 
name breasts are dilated and souls are revived, and in whose literary 
productions the ink-horn exults and the paper quivers with joy ; and 
at the hearing thereof voices are hushed and heads are bowed. He 
was born at Tus in the year 450 a.h. = 1058-1059 a.d. His father 
used to spin wool (yaghzilu 'l-suf) and sell it in his shop. On his death- 
bed he committed his two sons, Ghazzali himself and his brother 
Afcmad, to the care of a pious Sufi, who taught them writing and 
educated them until the money left him by their father was all spent. 
' Then,' says Ghazzali, ' we went to the college to learn divinity 
(fiqh) so that we might gain our livelihood.' After studying there 
for some time he journeyed to Abu Nasr al-Isma'i'li in Jurjan, then 
to the Imamu '1-Haramayn 4 at Naysabur, under whom he studied 
with such assiduity that he became the best scholastic of his 
contemporaries (sdra anzara ahli zamanihi), and he lectured ex 

1 Another example is 'Umar al-Khayyami for 'Umar Khayyam. The 
spelling Ghazzali (with a double z) was in general use when Ibn 
Khallikan wrote his Biographical Dictionary in 1256 a.d. (see De Slane's 
translation, vol. i, p. 80), but according to Sam 'ani the name is derived 
from Ghazala, a village near Tus ; in which case Ghazali is the correct 
form of the nisba. I have adopted 1 Ghazali ' in deference to Sam'ani's 
authority, but those who write ' Ghazzali ' can at least claim that they err 
in very good company. 

2 Shamsu '1-Din al-Dhahabl (f 1348 a.d.). 

3 'Abdu '1-Rahim al-Isnawi (f 1370 a.d.), author of a biographical 
work on the Shafi'ite doctors. See Brockelmann, Gesch. der Arab. Litt., 
vol. ii, p. 90. 

* Abu '1-Ma'ali al-Juwaym, a famous theologian of Naysabur (f 1085 a.d.), 
received this title, which means ' Imam of the Two Sanctuaries,' because 
he taught for several years at Mecca and Medina. 



340 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



cathedra in his master's lifetime, and wrote i books. . . . And on the 
death of his master he set out for the Camp 1 and presented himself 
to the Nizamu '1-Mulk, whose assembly was the alighting-place of 
the learned and the destination of the leading divines and savants ; 
and there, as was due to his high merit, he enjoyed the society of the 
principal doctors, and disputed with his opponents and rebutted 
them in spite of their eminence. So the Nizamu '1-Mulk inclined to 
him and showed him great honour, and his name flew through the 
world. Then, in the year '84 (1091 a.d.) he was called to a professor- 
ship in the Nizamiyya College at Baghdad, where a splendid 
reception awaited him. His words reached far and wide, and his 
influence soon exceeded that of the Emirs and Viziers. But at last 
his lofty spirit recoiled from worldly vanities. He gave himself up 
to devotion and dervishhood, and set out, in the year '88 (1095 a.d.), 
for the Hijaz. 2 On his return from the Pilgrimage he journeyed to 
Damascus and made his abode there for ten years in the minaret of 
the Congregational Mosque, and composed several works, of which 
the Ihyd is said to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and 
Alexandria, he returned to his home at Tus, intent on writing and 
worship and constant recitation of the Koran and dissemination of 
knowledge and avoidance of intercourse with men. The Vizier 
Fakhru '1-Mulk, 3 son of the Nizamu '1-Mulk, came to see him, and 
urged him by every means in his power to accept a professorship in 
the Nizamiyya College at Naysabur. 4 Ghazzali consented, but after 
teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end 
his days in his native town." 

Besides his magnum opus, the already-mentioned Ihyd, in 
which he expounds theology and the ethics of religion from 
the standpoint of the moderate Sufi school, 
HiS works ipal Ghazali wrote a great number of important 
works, such as the Munqidh mina U-Dalal, or 
' Deliverer from Error,' a sort of 4 Apologia pro Vita Sua'; the 
Klmiyau U-Sa'adaty or 'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was 

1 I.e., the camp-court of the Seljuq monarch Malikshah, son of 
Alp Arslan. 

2 According to his own account in the Munqidh, Ghazalf on leaving 
Baghdad went first to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, and then to Mecca. 
The statement that he remained ten years at Damascus is inaccurate. 

3 The MS. has Fakhru '1-Din. 

4 Ghazali's return to public life took place in 1106 a.d. 



shahrastAn! 



341 



originally written in Persian ; and the Tahdfutu 'l-Faldsifa, or 
c Collapse of the Philosophers,' a polemical treatise designed to 
refute and destroy the doctrines of Moslem philosophy. This 
work called forth a rejoinder from the celebrated Ibn Rushd 
(Averroes), who died at Morocco in 1198-1199 a.d. 

Here we may notice two valuable works on the history ot 
religion, both of which bear the same title, Kitdbu U-Milal wa- 
'I-NihaL that is to say, 6 The Book of Religions 

Shahrastani's * 5 Jy ° 

•Book of Reii- and Sects' by Ibn Hazmof Cordova (t 1064 a.d.) 

gions and Sects.' ' J ' / 

and Abu '1-Fath al-Shahrastanf (t 1153 a.d.). 
Ibn Hazm we shall meet with again in the chapter which 
deals specially with the history and literature of the Spanish 
Moslems. Shahrastani, as he is named after his birthplace, 
belonged to the opposite extremity of the Muhammadan 
Empire, being a native of Khurasan, the huge Eastern 
province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who edited the 
Arabic text of the Kitdbu H-Milal wa-l-Nihal (London, 1842- 
1846), gives the following outline of its contents : — 

After five introductory chapters, the author proceeds to arrange 
his book into two great divisions ; the one comprising the Religious, 
the other the Philosophical Sects. The former of these contains an 
account of the various Sects of the followers of Muhammad, and 
likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the 
Ahlu 'l-Kitdb, or ' People of the Scripture '), that is, Jews and 
Christians ; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation 
{man lahu shubhatu 'l-Kitdb), such as the Magi and the Manichaeans. 
The second division comprises an account of the philosophical 
opinions of the Sabasans (Sabians), which are mainly set forth in a 
very interesting dialogue between a Sabaean and an orthodox 
Muhammadan ; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and 
some of the Fathers of the Christian Church ; and also of the 
Muhammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn Sina 
or Avicenna, which the author explains at considerable length. 
The work terminates with an account of the tenets of the Arabs 
before the commencement of Islamism, and of the religion of the 
people of India. 

The science of grammar took its rise in the cities of Basra 



342 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



and Kufa, which were founded not long after Muhammad's 
death, and which remained the chief centres of Arabian life 

and thought outside the peninsula until they 
Gr pSoio r ^ nd were eclipsed by the great 'Abbasid capital. In 

both towns the population consisted of Bedouin 
Arabs, belonging to different tribes and speaking many 
different dialects, while there were also thousands of artisans 
and clients who spoke Persian as their mother-tongue, so that 
the classical idiom was peculiarly exposed to corrupting 
influences. If the pride and delight of the Arabs in their 
noble language led them to regard the maintenance of its 
purity as a national duty, they were equally bound by their 
religious convictions to take decisive measures for ensuring the 
correct pronunciation and interpretation of that " miracle of 
Divine eloquence," the Arabic Koran. To this latter motive 
the invention of grammar is traditionally ascribed. The 
inventor is related to have been Abu 'l-Aswad al-Du'alf, who 

died at Basra during the Umayyad period. " Abu 
of Arabic 'l-Aswad, having been asked where he had 
grammar. aC q U i re d the science of grammar, answered that 
he had learned the rudiments of it from C AU b. AM Talib. It 
is said that he never made known any of the principles which 
he had received from 'All till Ziyad 1 sent to him the order to 
compose something which might serve as a guide to the 
public and enable them to understand the Book of God. He 
at first asked to be excused, but on hearing a man recite the 
following passage out of the Koran, anna 'lldha bart un mina 
9 l-mushrikina wa-rasuluhuf which last word the reader pro- 
nounced rasiilihi, he exclaimed, 4 1 never thought that things 
would have come to this.' He then returned to Ziyad and 



1 See p. 195 supra. 

2 Kor. ix, 3. The translation runs (" This is a declaration) that God ts 
clear of the idolaters, and His Apostle likewise." With the reading 
rasulihi it means that God is clear of the idolaters and also of His 
Apostle. 



THE ARAB GRAMMARIANS 343 



said, c I will do what you ordered.' " 1 The Basra school of 
grammarians which Abu 'l-Aswad is said to have founded is 

older than the rival school of Kufa and surpassed it 
The of h Bas?l. lsts m fame. Its most prominent representatives were 

Abu 'Amr b. al-'Ald (t 770 a.d.), a diligent 
and profound student of the Koran, who on one occasion 
burned all his collections of old poetry, &c, and abandoned 
himself to devotion ; Khalil b. Ahmad, inventor of the Arabic 
system of metres and author of the first Arabic lexicon (the 
Kitdbu 'l-'Ayn)) which, however, he did not live to complete ; 
the Persian Slbawayhi, whose Grammar, entitled 'The Book 
of Sibawayhi,' is universally celebrated ; the great Humanists 
al-Asma'i and Abu 'Ubayda who flourished under Hariin 
al-Rashid ; al-Mubarrad, about a century later, whose best- 
known work, the Kdmil^ has been edited by Professor William 
Wright ; his contemporary al-Sukkarl, a renowned collector 
and critic of old Arabian poetry ; and Ibn Durayd (t 934 a.d.), 
a distinguished philologist, genealogist, and poet, who re- 
ceived a pension from the Caliph Muqtadir in recognition of 
his services on behalf of science, and whose principal works, 
in addition to the famous ode known as the Maqsura, are a 
voluminous lexicon (al-jfamhara fi U-Lugha) and a treatise on 
the genealogies of the Arab tribes {Kitdbu U-Ishtiqdq). 

Against these names the school of Kufa can set al-Kisa'i, 
a Persian savant who was entrusted by Hariin al-Rashid 

with the education of his sons Amin and 
The o?Kte? lsts Ma'miin ; al-Farra (t 822 a.d.), a pupil and 

compatriot of al-Kis&'i ; al-Mufaddal al-Dabbi, 
a favourite of the Caliph Mahdi, for whom he compiled an 
excellent anthology of Pre-islamic poems (al-Mufaddaltyydt) y 
which has already been noticed 2 ; Ibnu 'l-Sikkit, whose out- 
spoken partiality for the House of 'AH b. Abi Talib caused 
him to be brutally trampled to death by the Turkish 



1 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 663. 

2 See p. 128. 



344 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



guards of the tyrant Mutawakkil (858 a.d.) ; and Tha'lab, 
head of the Kufa school in his time (f 904 a.d.), of whose 
rivalry with al-Mubarrad many stories are told. A con- 
temporary, Abu Bakr b. Abi 'l-Azhar, said in one of his 
poems : — 

" Turn to Mubarrad or to Tha'lab, thou 
That seek'st with learning to improve thy mind ! 
Be not a fool, like mangy camel shunned : 
All human knowledge thou with them wilt find. . 
The science of the whole world, East and West, 
In these two single doctors is combined." 1 

Reference has been made in a former chapter to some ot 
the earliest Humanists, e.g., Hammad al-Rawiya (t 776 a.d.) 
and his slightly younger contemporary, Khalaf al-Ahmar, to 
their inestimable labours in rescuing the old poetry from 
oblivion, and to the unscrupulous methods which they some- 
times employed. 2 Among their successors, who flourished in 
the Golden Age of Islam, under the first 'Abbasids, the place 
of honour belongs to Abu 'Ubayda (t about 825 a.d.) and 
al-Asma'i (f about 830 a.d.). 

Abu 'Ubayda Ma'mar b. al-Muthannd was or Jewish- 
Persian race, and maintained in his writings the cause of the 
Shu'ubites against the Arab national party, for 

Abu 'Ubayda. . D . . 

which reason he is erroneously described as a 
Kharijite.3 The rare expressions of the Arabic language, the 
history of the Arabs and their conflicts were his predominant 
study — " neither in heathen nor Muhammadan times," he 
once boasted, " have two horses met in battle but that I 
possess information about them and their riders " 4 ; yet, with 
all his learning, he was not always able to recite a verse with- 
out mangling it ; even in reading the Koran, with the book 

1 Ibn Khallikan, No. 608 ; De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 31. 

2 See pp. 131-134, supra. 

3 Goldziher, Muhammedanische Studien, Part I, p. 197. 
« Ibid., p. 195. 



ABU UBAYDA AND ASMA'I 345 



before his eyes, he made mistakes. 1 Our knowledge of 
Arabian antiquity is drawn, to a large extent, from the 
traditions collected by him which are preserved in the Kitdbu 
'l-Aghdni and elsewhere. He left nearly two hundred works, 
of which along but incomplete catalogue occurs in the Fihrist 
(pp. 53-54). Abu 'Ubayda was summoned by the Caliph 
Harun al-Rashid to Baghdad, where he became acquainted 
Asma'i Wlt ^ Asma'i'. There was a standing feud be- 
tween them, due in part to difference of character 2 
and in part to personal jealousies. 'Abdu '1-Malik b. Qurayb 
al-Asma'i was, like his rival, a native of Basra. Although he 
may have been excelled by others of his contemporaries in certain 
branches of learning, none exhibited in such fine perfection 
the varied literary culture which at that time was so highly 
prized and so richly rewarded. Whereas Abu 'Ubayda was 
dreaded for his sharp tongue and sarcastic humour, Asma'i 
had all the accomplishments and graces of a courtier. Abu 
Nuwas, the first great poet 01 the 'Abbasid period, said that 
Asma'i was a nightingale to charm those who heard him 
with his melodies. In court circles, where the talk often 
turned on philological matters, he was a favourite guest, and 
the Caliph would send for him to decide any abstruse question 
connected with literature which no one present was able to 
answer. Of his numerous writings on linguistic and anti- 
quarian themes several have come down to us, e.g., 'The Book 
of Camels ' {Kitdbu U-lbil\ 'The Book of Horses' (Kitdbu 
'I-Khayl), and 'The Book of the Making of Man' (Kitdbu 
Khalqi H-Insdn), a treatise which shows that the Arabs of the 
desert had acquired a considerable knowledge of human 
anatomy. His work as editor, commentator, and critic ot 
Arabian poetry forms (it has been said) the basis of nearly all 
that has since been written on the subject. 

1 Ibn Qutayba, Kitdbu 'l-Ma'drif, p. 269. 

2 While Abu 'Ubayda was notorious for his free-thinking proclivities, 
Asma'i had a strong vein of pietism. See Goldziher, loc. cit, p. 199 
and Abh. zur Arab. Philologie, Part I, p. 136. 



346 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



Belles-lettres (A dab) and literary history are represented by 
a whole series of valuable works. Only a few of the most 
important can be mentioned here, and that in a 

Ibnu '1-Muqaffa' /-r-«i r» • r» ' 1 -i 

(t circa 760 a.d.). very summary manner. 1 he Persian Ruzbih, 

better known as 'Abdullah Ibnu '1-Muqaffa', who 
was put to death by order of the Caliph Mansur, made several 
translations from the Pehlevi or Middle-Persian literature into 
Arabic. We possess a specimen of his powers in the famous 
Hook of Kali la and Dimna^ which is ultimately derived from 
the Sanscrit Fables of Bidpai. The Arabic version is one of 
the oldest prose works in that language, and is justly regarded 
as a model of elegant style, though it has not the pungent 

brevity which marks true Arabian eloquence. Ibn 
(t 889A*Sj a Qutayba, whose family came from Merv, held for 

a time the office of Cadi at Dinawar, and lived at 
Baghdad in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more 
than once cited his c Book of General Knowledge 1 (Kitdbu 
U-Ma'drifY and his 6 Book of Poetry and Poets,' (Kitdbu 
7-5A/V wa- 'l-Shu'ard), and may add here the Adabu 'l-Kdtib, or 
'Accomplishments of the Secretary,' 2 a manual of stylistic, 
dealing with orthography, orthoepy, lexicography, and the 
like ; and the 'Uyunu H-Akhbdr^ or ' Choice Histories,' 3 a work 
in ten chapters, each of which is devoted to a special theme 
such as Government, War, Nobility, Friendship, Women, Sec. 

'Amr b. Bahr al-Jahiz of Basra was a celebrated 
(t 869a ? d.). freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the 

Mu'tazilites (al-Jdhiziyya)A He composed 
numerous books of an anecdotal and entertaining character. 
Ibn Khallikan singles out as his finest and most instructive 
works the Kitdbu U-Hayawdn (' Book of Animals '), and the 



1 Professor Browne has given a resume of the contents in his Lit. Hist, 
of Persia, vol. i, p. 387 seq. 

2 Ed. by Max Griinert (Ley den, 1900). 

3 An edition by C. Brockelmann is in course of publication. 
The epithet jdhiz means 'goggle-eyed.' 



BELLES-LETTRES 



347 



Kitdbu U-Baydn wa-l-Tabyln ( 4 Book of Eloquence and 
Exposition '), which is a popular treatise on rhetoric. It so 
happens — and the fact is not altogether fortuitous — that 
extremely valuable contributions to the literary history of the 
Arabs were made by two writers connected with the 

Umayyad House. Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova, 
bihufgfo wno was descended from an enfranchised slave of 

the Spanish Umayyad Caliph, Hisham b. 'Abd 
al-Rahman (788-796 a.d.), has left us a miscellaneous 
anthology entitled al-'Iqd al-Farid^ or * The Unique Neck- 
lace,' which is divided into twenty-five books, each bearing 
the name of a different gem, and " contains something on 

every subject." Though Abu '1-Farai 4 AIL the 

Abu 'l-Faraj al- / i ■ „ °,_ . . . . J . 

isfaham author or the Kitabu /-Aghani, was born at 
Isfahan, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a 
member of the tribe Quraysh and a lineal descendant of 
Marwan, the last Umayyad Caliph. Coming to Baghdad, 
he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian antiquity, 
and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in 
al-Muhallabi, the Vizier of the Buwayhid sovereign, Mu'izzu 
'l-Dawla. His minor works are cast in the shade by his 
great 'Book of Songs.' This may be described as a history of 
all the Arabian poetry that had been set to music down to 
the author's time. It is based on a collection of one hundred 
melodies which was made for the Caliph Harun al-Rashfd, 
but to these Abu 'l-Faraj has added many others chosen by 
himself. After giving the words and the airs attached to 
them, he relates the lives of the poets and musicians by whom 
they were composed, and takes occasion to introduce a vast 
quantity of historical traditions and anecdotes, including much 
ancient and modern verse. It is said that the Sahib Ibn 
'Abbad, 1 when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of 
books about with him, but on receiving the Aghdni he con- 



1 See p. 267. 



348 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



tented himself with this one book and dispensed with all the 
rest. 1 The chief man of letters of the next generation was 

Abu Mansur al-Tha'alibf (the Furrier) of Nay- 
(tio37A.D.). sabur. Notwithstanding that most of his works 

are unscientific compilations, designed to amuse 
the public rather than to impart solid instruction, his famous 
anthology of recent and contemporary poets — the Tatimatu 
*l-Dahr y or ' Solitaire of the Time '—supplies indubitable 
proof of his fine scholarship and critical taste. Successive 
continuations of the Tatima were written by al-Bakharzi 
(t 1075 a.d.) in the Dumyatu 9 l-Qasr y or 'Statue of the 
Palace'; by Abu '1-Ma'ali al-HazfH (t 1172 a.d.) in the 
Zinatu 'l-Dahr^ or ' Ornament of the Time ' ; and by the 
favourite of Saladin, 'Imadu '1-Dm al-Katib al-Isfahani 
(t 1 20 1 a.d.), in the Kharidatu ^l-Qasr, or ' Virgin Pearl of the 
Palace.' From the tenth century onward the study of philology 
proper began to decline, while on the other hand those sciences 
which formerly grouped themselves round philology now 
became independent, were cultivated with brilliant success, 
and in a short time reached their zenith. 



The elements of History are found (1) in Pre-islamic tra- 
ditions and (2) in the Hadith of the Prophet, but the idea 01 
historical composition on a grand scale was prob- 
ably suggested to the Arabs by Persian models 
such as the Pehlevi Khuday-ndma, or 4 Book of Kings,' which 
Ibnu '1-Muqaffa c turned into Arabic in the eighth century 
of our era under the title of Siyaru Muluki U-^Ajam^ that is, 
' The History of the Kings of Persia.' 

Under the first head Hisham Ibnu '1-Kalbi (t 819 a.d.) 
and his father Muhammad deserve particular mention as pains- 
taking and trustworthy recorders. 

Historical traditions relating to the Prophet were put in 



1 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 250. 



BIOGRAPHERS AND HISTORIANS 349 



writing at an early date (see p. 247). The first biography of 
Muhammad (Siratu Rasuli Uldh\ compiled by Ibn Ishaq, 
who died in the reign of Mansur (768 a.d.), 

Histories of the . . ' 

Prophet and his has come down to us only in the recension 

Companions. _ / • « n-»i • 

made by Ibn Hisham (t 834 a.d.). This work 
as well as those of al-Waqidi (t 823 a.d.) and Ibn Sa c d 
(t 845 a.d.) have been already noticed. 

Other celebrated historians of the 'Abbasid period are the 
following. 

Ahmad b. Yahya al-Baladhuri (t 892 a.d.), a Persian, wrote 
an account of the early Muhammadan conquests (Kitdbu 
Futuhi H-Buldan)) which has been edited by 
De Goeje, and an immense chronicle based on 
genealogical principles, ' The Book of the Lineages of the 
Nobles \ (Kitdbu Ansdbi U-Ashrdf), of which two volumes are 
extant. 1 

Abu Hanifa Ahmad al-Dmawan (f 895 a.d.) was also or 
Iranian descent. His c Book of Long Histories ' (Kitdbu 
Dinawari 'l-Akhbdr al-Tiwdl) deals largely with the 
national legend of Persia, and is written through- 
out from the Persian point of view. 

Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi, a contemporary of Dinawari, pro- 
duced an excellent compendium of universal history, which 
, b , is specially valuable because its author, being a 
follower of the House of c Ali, has preserved the 
ancient and unfalsified SM'ite tradition. His work has been 
edited in two volumes by Professor Houtsma (Leyden, 1883). 

The Annals of Tabari, edited by De Goeje and other 
European scholars (Leyden, 1 879-1 898), and the Golden 
Meadows 2 (Muruju U-Dhahab) of Mas'iidi, which Pavet de 

1 One of these, the eleventh of the complete work, has been edited by 
Ahlwardt : Anonyme Arabischc Chronik (Greifswald, 1883). It covers part 
of the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, "Abdu 'l-Malik (685-705 a.d.). 

2 The French title is Les Prairies d'Or. Brockelmann, in his shorter 



350 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



Courteille and Barbier de Meynard published with a French 
translation (Paris, 1861-1877), have been frequently cited in 
the foregoing pages ; and since these two authors are not only 
the greatest historians of the Muhammadan East but also 
(excepting, possibly, Ibn Khaldun) the most eminent of all 
who devoted themselves to this branch of Arabic literature, 
we must endeavour to make the reader more closely ac- 
quainted with them. 

Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Jarfr was born in 838-839 a.d. at 
Amul in Tabaristan, the mountainous province lying along 

the south coast of the Caspian Sea ; whence the 
Ta 923A ( r> 3 ).~ name, Tabari, by which he is usually known. 1 

At this time 'Iraq was still the principal focus of 
Muhammadan culture, so that a poet could say : — 

" I see a man in whom the secretarial dignity is manifest, 
One who displays the brilliant culture of 'Iraq." 2 

Thither the young Tabari came to complete his education. 
He travelled by way of Rayy to Baghdad, visited other 
neighbouring towns, and extended his tour to Syria and 
Egypt. Although his father sent him a yearly allowance, it did 
not always arrive punctually, and he himself relates that on one 
occasion he procured bread by selling the sleeves of his shirt. 
Fortunately, at Baghdad he was introduced to 'Ubaydullah b. 
Yahya, the Vizier of Mutawakkil, who engaged him as tutor for 
his son. How long he held this post is uncertain, but he was only 
twenty-three years of age when his patron went out of office. 
Fifteen years later we find him, penniless once more, in Cairo 

Hist, of Arabic Literature (Leipzig, 1901), p. no, states that the correct 
translation of Muruju 'l-Dhahab is 'Goldwaschen.' 

1 Concerning Tabari and his work the reader should consult De Goeje's 
Introduction (published in the supplementary volume containing the 
Glossary) to the Leyden edition, and his excellent article on Tabari and 
early Arab Historians in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

2 Abu '1-Mahasin, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 608. 



TABARt 



35i 



(876-877 a.d.). He soon, however, returned to Baghdad, 
where he passed the remainder of his life in teaching and 
writing. Modest, unselfish, and simple in his habits, he diffused 
his encyclopaedic knowledge with an almost superhuman 
industry. During forty years, it is said, he wrote forty leaves 
every day. His great works are the Tarikhu U-Rusul wa- 
'/-Muluk, or 4 Annals of the Apostles and the Kings,' and his 
Tafsir y or ' Commentary on the Koran.' Both, even in their 
present shape, are books of enormous extent, yet it seems 
likely that both were originally composed on a far larger 
scale and were abbreviated by the author for general use. His 
pupils, we are told, flatly refused to read the first editions with 
him, whereupon he exclaimed : " Enthusiasm for learning is 
dead ! " The History of Tabarf, from the Creation to the 
year 302 a.h.=o,I5 a.d., is distinguished by " completeness of 
detail, accuracy, and the truly stupendous learning of its author 
that is revealed throughout, and that makes the Annals a vast 
storehouse of valuable information for the historian as well as 
for the student of Islam." 1 It is arranged chronologically, 
the events being tabulated under the year (of the Muliammadan 
era) in which they occurred. Moreover, it has a very peculiar 
form. " Each important fact is related, if possible, by an 
eye-witness or contemporary, whose account came down 
through a series of narrators to the author. If he has obtained 
more than one account of a fact, with more or less important 
modifications, through several series of narrators, he com- 
municates them all to the reader in extenso. Thus we are 
enabled to consider the facts from more than one point of 
view, and to acquire a vivid and clear notion of them." 2 
According to modern ideas, Taban's compilation is not so 
much a history as a priceless collection of original documents 
placed side by side without any attempt to construct a critical 

1 Selection from the Annals of Tabari, ed. by M. J. de Goeje (Leyden, 
1902), p. xi. 

2 De Goeje's Introduction to Tabari, p. xxvii. 



352 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



and continuous narrative. At first sight one can hardly see the 
wood for the trees, but on closer study the essential features 
gradually emerge and stand out in bold relief from amidst the 
multitude of insignificant circumstances which lend freshness 
and life to the whole. Tabari suffered the common fate of 
standard historians. His work was abridged and popularised, 
the isn&ds :or chains of authorities were suppressed, and the 
various parallel accounts were combined by subsequent writers 
into a single version. 1 Of the Annals, as it left the author's 
hands, no entire copy exists anywhere, but many odd volumes 
are preserved in different parts of the world. The Leyden 
edition is based on these scattered MSS., which luckily com- 
prise the whole work with the exception of a few not very 
serious lacunae. 

'AH b. Husayn, a native of Baghdad, was called Mas'iidf 
after one of the Prophet's Companions, 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud, 
to whom he traced his descent. Although we 

t a.d.). possess only a small remnant of his voluminous 
writings, no better prooi can be desired of the 
vast and various erudition which he gathered not from books 
alone, but likewise from long travel in almost every part of 
Asia. Among other places, he visited Armenia, India, Ceylon, 
Zanzibar, and Madagascar, and he appears to have sailed in 
Chinese waters as well as in the Caspian Sea. " My journey," 
he says, " resembles that of the sun, and to me the poet's verse 
is applicable : — 

"'We turn our steps toward each different clime, 
Now to the Farthest East, then West once more ; 
Even as the sun, which stays not his advance 
O'er tracts remote that no man durst explore.' " 2 



1 Al-Baramf, the Vizier of Mansur I, the Samanid, made in 963 a.d. a 
Persian epitome of which a French translation by Dubeux and Zotenberg 
was published in 1867-1874. 

2 Muruju 'l-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. i, p. 5 se( l- 



MAS'tiDf 



353 



He spent the latter years of his life chiefly in Syria and Egypt 
— for he had no settled abode — compiling the great historical 
works, 1 of which the Muruju 'l-Dhahab is an epitome. As 
regards the motives which urged him to write, Mas'udi 
declares that he wished to follow the example of scholars and 
sages and to leave behind him a praiseworthy memorial and 
imperishable monument. He claims to have taken a wider 
view than his predecessors. " One who has never quitted his 
hearth and home, but is content with the knowledge which 
he can acquire concerning the history of his own part of the 
world, is not on the same level as one who spends his life in 
travel and passes his days in restless wanderings, and draws 
forth all manner of curious and precious information from its 
hidden mine." 2 

Mas'udl has been named the ' the Herodotus of the Arabs,' 
and the comparison is not unjust.3 His work, although it 

lacks the artistic unity which distinguishes that 
T ^Dhahat °f tne Greek historian, shows the same eager 

spirit of enquiry, the same open-mindedness and 
disposition to record without prejudice all the marvellous things 
that he had heard or seen, the same ripe experience and large 
outlook on the present as on the past. It is professedly a 
universal history beginning with the Creation and ending at 
the Caliphate of Mud', in 947 a.d., but no description can 
cover the immense range of topics which are discussed and 
the innumerable digressions with which the author delights 
or irritates his readers, as the case may be.4 Thus, to pick 

1 The Akhbdru 'l-Zamdn in thirty volumes (one volume is extant at 
Vienna) and the Kitdb al-Awsat. 2 Muruju 'l-Dhahab, p. 9seq. 

3 It may be noted as a coincidence that Ibn Khaldun calls Mas'udi 
imdm an lil-mu' arrikhin, "an, Imam for all the historians," which 
resembles, though it does not exactly correspond to, " the Father of 
History." 

4 Mas'udi gives a summary of the contents of his historical and religious 
works in the Preface to the Tanbth wa-'l-Ishrdf, ed. by De Goeje, p. 2 sqq. 
A translation of this passage by De Sacy will be found in Barbier de 
Meynard's edition of the Muruju 'l-Dhahab, vol. ix, p. 302 sqq. 

24 



354 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



2l few examples at random, we find a dissertation on tides 
(vol. i, p. 244) ; an account of the tinnln or sea-serpent [ibid. y 
p. 267) ; of pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf (ibid.^ p. 328) ; 
and of the rhinoceros (ibid., p. 385). Mas'&di was a keen 
student and critic of religious beliefs, on which subject he 
wrote several books. 1 The Muruju 'l-Dhahab supplies many 
valuable details regarding the Muhammadan sects, and also 
regarding the Zoroastrians and Sabians. There is a particularly- 
interesting report of a meeting which took place between 
Ahmad b. Tulun, the governor of Egypt (868-877 A - D «)> 
and an aged Copt, who, after giving his views as to the source 
of the Nile and the construction of the Pyramids, defended his 
faith (Christianity) on the ground of its manifest errors and con- 
tradictions, arguing that its acceptance, in spite of these, by 
so many peoples and kings was decisive evidence of its truth. 2 
Mas'udfs account of the Caliphs is chiefly remarkable for 
the characteristic anecdotes in which it abounds. Instead 
of putting together a methodical narrative he has thrown oft 
a brilliant but unequal sketch of public affairs and private 
manners, of social life and literary history. Only considerations 
of space have prevented me from enriching this volume with 
not a few pages which are as lively and picturesque as any in 
Suetonius. His last work, the Kitdbu 'l-Tanbih wa-l-Ishrdf 
(' Book of Admonition and Recension' ),3 was intended to take 
a general survey of the field which had been more fully 
traversed in his previous compositions, and also to supplement 
them when it seemed necessary. 

We must pass over the minor historians and biographers 
of this period — for example, 'Utbi (t 1036 a.d.), whose 

1 See Muruj, vol. i, p. 201, and vol. iii, p. 268. 

2 Ibid. } vol. ii, p. 372 sqq. 

3 De Sacy renders the title by ' Le Livre de l'lndication et de l'Ad- 
monition ou l'lndicateur et le Moniteur ' ; but see De Goeje's edition of 
the text (Leyden, 1894), P» xxvii. 



OTHER HISTORICAL WRITERS 355 



Kitdb al-Yaminl celebrates the glorious reign of Sultan 
Mahmud of Ghazna ; Khatib of Baghdad (t 1071 a.d.), 
who composed a history of the eminent men of 
hSans. that cit y; *Iniadu '1-DIn of Isfahan (t 1201 
a.d.), the biographer of Saladin ; Ibnu '1-Qiftf 
(t 1248 a.d.), born at Qift (Coptos) in Upper Egypt, whose 
lives of the philosophers and scientists have only come down 
to us in a compendium entitled Tcfrlkhu 'l-Hukamd ; Ibnu 
'l-Jawzi (t 1200 a.d.), a prolific writer in almost every branch 
of literature, and his grandson, Yusuf (t 1257 A - D «) — generally 
called Sibt Ibn al-jawzl — author of the Mir'dtu U-Zamdn^ or 
* Mirror of the Time'; Ibn AM Usaybia (t 1270 a.d.), 
whose history of physicians, the 'Uyunu U-Anbd^ has been 
edited by A. Miiller (1884) ; and the Christian, Jirjis (George) 
al-Maldn (t 1273 a.d.), compiler of a universal chronicle — 
named the Majmh!" al-Mubdrak — of which the second part, 
from Muhammad to the end of the 'Abbasid dynasty, was 
rendered into Latin by Erpenius in 1625. 

A special notice, brief though it must be, is due to c Izzu 
'1-Dln Ibnu '1-Athir (ti234 a.d.). He was brought up at 

Mosul in Mesopotamia, and after finishing his 
Sad? studies in Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Syria, he 

returned home and devoted himself to reading 
and literary composition. Ibn Khallikan, who knew him 
personally, speaks of him in the highest terms both as a man 
and as a scholar. " His great work, the Kami/, 1 embracing 
the history of the world from the earliest period to the year 
628 of the Hijra (1230-1231 a.d.), merits its reputation as 
one of the best productions of the kind." 2 Down to the 
year 302 a.h. the author has merely abridged the Annals 
of Tabarl with occasional additions from other sources. In 

1 The full title is Kitdbu 'l-Kdmil fi 'l-Ta'rikh, or 1 The Perfect Book 
of Chronicles.' It has been edited by Tornberg in fourteen volumes 
(Leyden, 1851-1876). 

3 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 289. 



356 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



the first volume he gives a long account of the Pre-islamic 
battles (Ayydmu 'I-' Arab) which is not found in the present 
text of Tabari ; but De Goeje, as I learn from Professor 
Bevan, thinks that this section was included in Tabari's 
original draft and was subsequently struck out. Ibnu '1-Athfr 
was deeply versed in the science of Tradition, and his TJsdu 
'l-Ghaba ('Lions of the Jungle') contains biographies of 7,500 
Companions of the Prophet. 

An immense quantity of information concerning the various 
countries and peoples of the 'Abbasid Empire has been pre- 
served for us bv the Moslem geographers, who 

Geographers. . ' • , f ° . . 

in many cases describe what they actually wit- 
nessed and experienced in the course of their travels, 
although they often help themselves liberally and without 
acknowledgment from the works of their predecessors. 
The following list, which does not pretend to be exhaustive, 
may find a place here. 1 

1. The Persian Ibn Khurdadbih (first half of ninth century) 
was postmaster in the province of Jibal, the Media of 

the ancients. His Kitabu'l-Masalik wa-l-Mamalik 
('Book of the Roads and Countries'), an official 

guide-book, is the oldest geographical work in Arabic that 

has come down to us. 

2. Abu Ishaq al-Farisi, a native of Persepolis (Istakhr) — 
on this account he is known as Istakhri — wrote a book called 

Masaliku 'l-Mamdlik ('Routes of the Provinces'), 
Sn'Sawqsd which was after wards revised and enlarged by 
Ibn Hawqal. Both works belong to the second 
half of the tenth century and contain " a careful description 

1 Air excellent account of the Arab geographers is given by Guy Le 
Strange in the Introduction to his Palestine under the Moslems (London, 
1890). De Goeje has edited the works of Ibn Khurdadbih, Istakhri, Ibn 
Hawqal, and Muqaddasi in the Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum 
(Leyden, 1870, &c.) 



THE MOSLEM GEOGRAPHERS 357 



of each province in turn of the Muslim Empire, with the 
chief cities and notable places." 

3. Al-Muqaddasf (or al-Maqdisf), i.e., * the native of the 
Holy City ', was born at Jerusalem in 946 a.d. In his 

delightful book entitled Ahsanu U-Taqdsim ft 
Muqaddasi. ma <- r if at i U-Aqdllm he has gathered up the fruits 
of twenty years' travelling through the dominions of the 
Caliphate. 

4. Omitting the Spanish Arabs, Bakri, Idrisl, and Ibn 
Jubayr, all of whom flourished in the eleventh century, 

we come to the greatest of Moslem geographers, 
Yaqut b. ^bdallah ( 1 179-1229 a.d.). A Greek 
by birth, he was enslaved in his childhood and sold to 
a merchant of Baghdad. His master gave him a good 
education and frequently sent him on trading expeditions 
to the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. After being enfranchised 
in consequence of a quarrel with his benefactor, he supported 
himself by copying and selling manuscripts. In 12 19-1220 a.d. 
he encountered the Tartars, who had invaded Khwarizm, and 
" fled as naked as when he shall be raised from the dust of 
the grave on the day of the resurrection." Further details of 
his adventurous life are recorded in the interesting notice 
by Ibn Khallikan. 1 His great Geographical Dictionary 
[Mu'jamu U-Bulddn) has been edited in six volumes by 
Wustenfeld (Leipzig, 1866), and is described by Mr. Le 
Strange as "a storehouse of geographical information, the 
value of which it would be impossible to over-estimate." We 
possess a useful epitome of it, made about a century later, viz., 
the Mardsidu 'l-Ittild'. Among the few other extant works 
of Yaqiit, attention may be called to the Mushtarik — a lexicon 
of places bearing the same name: — ana * the Mu c jamu U-Udabd y 
or * Dictionary of Litterateurs,' of which the first volume is now 
being edited by Professor Margoliouth for the Trustees 
of the Gibb Memorial Fund. 

1 De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 9 sqq. 



358 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



As regards the philosophical and exact sciences the Moslems 
naturally derived their ideas and material from Greek culture, 

which had established itself in Egypt, Syria, and 
Th scienc e is gn Western Asia since the time of Alexander's 

conquests. When the Syrian school of Edessa 
was broken up by ecclesiastical dissensions towards the end 
of the fifth century of our era, the expelled savants took refuge 
in Persia at the Sasanian court, and Khusraw Anushirwan, or 
Nushfrwan (531-578 a.d.) — the same monarch who welcomed 
the Neo-platonist philosophers banished from Athens by Jus- 
tinian — founded an Academy at Jund£-shapur in Khuzistan, 
where Greek medicine and philosophy continued to be taught 
down to 'Abbasid days. Another centre of Hellenism was the 
city of Harran in Mesopotamia. Its inhabitants, Syrian heathens 
who generally appear in Muhammadan history under the name 
of i Sabians,' spoke Arabic with facility and contributed in 
no small degree to the diffusion of Greek wisdom. The work 
of translation was done almost entirely by Syrians. In the 

monasteries of Syria and Mesopotamia the 

Translations . . J 

from the writings of Aristotle, Galen, Ptolemy, and other 

Greek. to > . . 

ancient masters were rendered with slavish fidelity, 
and these Syriac versions were afterwards retranslated 
into Arabic. A beginning was made under the Umayyads, 
who cared little for Islam but were by no means in- 
different to the claims of literature, art, and science. An 
Umayyad prince, Khalid b. Yazid, procured the translation 
of Greek and Coptic works on alchemy, and himself wrote 
three treatises on that subject. .The accession of the 'Abbasids 
gave a great impulse to such studies, which found an en- 
lightened patron in the Caliph Mansiir. Works on logic and 
medicine were translated from the Pehlevi by Ibnu 'l-Muqaffa' 
(t about 760 a.d.) and others. It is, however, the splendid 
reign of Ma'mun (813-833 a.d.) that marks the full vigour 
of this Oriental Renaissance. Ma'mun was no ordinary man. 
Like a true Persian, he threw himself heart and soul into 



TRANSLATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS 359 



theological speculations and used the authority of the Caliphate 
to enforce a liberal standard of orthodoxy. His interest in 
science was no less ardent. According to a story told in the 
Fihrist* he dreamed that he saw the venerable figure of 
Aristotle seated on a throne, and in consequence 
enJiiragement °^ tn * s vision he sent a deputation to the Roman 
°Le?rnSg W Emperor (Leo the Armenian) to obtain scientific 
books for translation into Arabic. The Caliph's 
example was followed by private individuals. Three brothers, 
Muhammad, Ahmad, and Hasan, known collectively as the 
Banu Musa, " drew translators from distant countries by the 
offer of ample rewards 2 and thus made evident the marvels 
of science. Geometry, engineering, the movements of the 
heavenly bodies, music, and astronomy were the principal 
subjects to which they turned their attention ; but these were 
only a small number of their acquirements.'^ Ma'mun in- 
stalled them, with Yahya b. AW Mansur and other scientists, 
in the House of Wisdom (Baytu U-Hikma) at Baghdad, an 
institution which comprised a well-stocked library and an 
astronomical observatory. Among the celebrated translators 
of the ninth century, who were' themselves conspicuous workers 
in the new field, we can only mention the Christians Qusta b. 
Luqa and Hunayn b. Ishaq, and the Sabian Thabit b. Qurra. 
It does not fall within the scope of this volume to consider 
in detail the achievements of the Moslems in science and 
philosophy. That in some departments they made valuable 
additions to existing knowledge must certainly be granted, 
but these discoveries count for little in comparison with the 
debt which we owe to the Arabs as pioneers of learning and 
bringers of light to mediaeval Europe. 4 Meanwhile it is only 

1 P- 243. 

2 The translators employed by the Banu Musa were paid at the rate 
of about 500 dinars a month [ibid., p. 43, 1. 18 sqq.). 

3 Ibid., p. 271 ; Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 315. 

4 A chapter at least would be required in order to set forth adequately 
the chief material and intellectual benefits which European civilisation 



360 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



possible to enumerate a few of the most eminent philosophers 
and scientific men who lived during the 'Abbasid age. The 
reader will observe that with rare exceptions they were of 
foreign origin. 

The leading spirits in philosophy were : — 

1. Ya'qub b. Ishaq al-Kindi, a descendant of the princely 
family of Kinda (see p. 42). He was distinguished by his 

contemporaries with the title Faylasiifu H-^Arab^ 
'The Philosopher of the Arabs.' He flourished 
in the first half of the ninth century. 

2. Abu Nasr al-Farabf (f 950 a.d.), of Turkish race, a 
native of Farab in Transoxania. The later years of his life 

were passed at Aleppo under the patronage of 
Sayfu 'l-Dawla. He devoted himself to the study 

of Aristotle, whom Moslems agree with Dante in regarding 

as "il maestro di color che sanno." 

3. Abu C AH Ibn Sma (Avicenna), born of Persian parents 
at Kharmaythan, near Bukhara, in the year 980 a.d. As 

a youth he displayed extraordinary talents, so 
that " in the sixteenth year of his age physicians 
of the highest eminence came to read medicine with him 
and to learn those modes of treatment which he had 
discovered by his practice." 1 He was no quiet student, 
like Far&bi, but a pleasure-loving, adventurous man of the 
world who travelled from court to court, now in favour, now 
in disgrace, and always writing indefatigably. His system 
of philosophy, in which Aristotelian and Neo-platonic theories 
are combined with Persian mysticism, was well suited to 

has derived from the Arabs. The reader may consult Von Kremer's 
Culturgeschichte des Orients, vol. ii, chapters 7 and 9 ; Diercks, Die 
Amber im Mittelalter (Leipzig, 1882) ; Sedillot, Histoire genirale des 
Arabes ; Schack, Pocsie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sieilien ; 
Munk, Melanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe ; and Krehl's article, 
' Arabische Sprache und Literatur ' in Brockhaus' Conv.-Lexicon. 
1 Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 440. 



PHILOSOPHERS AND SCIENTISTS 361 



the popular taste, and in the East it still reigns supreme. His 
chief works are the Shifd (Remedy) on physics, meta- 
physics, &c, and a great medical encyclopaedia entitled the 
^anun (Canon). Avicenna died in 1037 a.d. 

4. The Spanish philosophers, Ibn Bajja (Avempace), Ibn 
Tufayl, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), all of whom flourished in 
the twelfth century after Christ. 

The most illustrious name beside Avicenna in the history 
of Arabian medicine is Abu Bakr al-Razf (Rhazes), a native of 
Rayy, near Teheran (t 923 or 932 a.d.). Jabir 
Astronomy, b. Hayyan of Tarsus (t about 780 a.d.) — the 

an4 Mathematics. * J J _ \ ' ' 

Geber of European writers — won equal renown 
as an alchemist. Astronomy went hand in hand with astrology. 
The reader may recognise al-Fargham, Abu Ma'shar of Balkh 
(t 885 a.d.) and al-Battani, a Sabian of Harran (t 929 a.d.), 
under the names of Alfraganus, Albumaser, and Albategnius, 
by which they became known in the West. Abu 'Abdallah 
al-Khwarizrm, who lived in the Caliphate of Ma'mun, was 
the first of a long line of mathematicians. In this science, as 
also in Medicine and Astronomy, we see the influence of 
India upon Muhammadan civilisation — an influence, however, 
which, in so far as it depended on literary sources, was more 
restricted and infinitely less vital than that of Greece. Only 
a passing reference can be made to Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a 
native of Khwarizm (Khiva), whose knowledge of the 
sciences, antiquities, and customs of India was 
B io^ a 9 d 3 )~ SUC ^ as no Moslem had ever equalled. His two 
principal works, the Athar al-Bdqiya^ or 'Sur- 
viving Monuments,' and the Ta'rikhu U-Hind^ or 'History of 
India,' have been edited and translated into English by Dr. 
Sachau. 1 

Some conception of the amazing intellectual activity of the 

1 The Chronology of Ancient Nations (London, 1879) and Alberuni's 
India (London, 1888). 



362 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



Moslems during the earlier part of the 'Abbasid period, and 
also of the enormous losses which Arabic literature has suf- 
fered through the destruction of thousands of books that are 
known to us by nothing beyond their titles and the names of 
Th Fi ~t t ^ le ^ r autnors 5 ma y De gained from the Fihrist y 
or ' Index ' of Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Abi Ya'qub 
al-Nadim al-Warraq al-Baghdadi (t 995 A.D.). Regarding 
the compiler we have no further information than is conveyed 
in the last two epithets attached to his name : he was 
a copyist of MSS., and was connected with Baghdad either 
by birth or residence ; add that, according to his own state- 
ment (p. 349, 1. 14 sqq.), he was at Constantinople (Ddru 
'/-Rum) in 988 a.d., the same year in which his work was 
composed. He may possibly have been related to the famous 
musician, Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Nadim of Mosul (t 849-850 a.d.), 
but this has yet to be proved. At any rate we owe to his 
industry a unique conspectus of the literary history of the 
Arabs to the end of the fourth century after the Flight. The 
Fihrist (as the author explains in his brief Preface) is "an 
Index of the books of all nations, Arabs and foreigners alike, 
which are extant in the Arabic language and script, on every 
branch of knowledge ; comprising information as to their 
compilers and the classes of their authors, together with the 
genealogies of those persons, the dates of their birth, the length 
of their lives, the times of their death, the places to which 
they belonged, their merits and their faults, since the begin- 
ning of every science that has been invented down to the 
present epoch : namely, the year 377 of the Hijra." As the 
contents of the Fihrist (which considerably exceed the above 
description) have been analysed in detail by G. Fliigel 
(Z.D.M.G.y vol. 13, p. 559 sqq.) and set forth in tabular 
form by Professor Browne in the first volume of his Literary 
History of Persia ,* I need only indicate the general arrange- 
ment and scope of the work. It is divided into ten 

1 P. 384 sqq. 



THE FIHRIST 



363 



discourses (maqaldt), which are subdivided into a varying 
number of sections (funun). Ibnu 'l-Nadim discusses, in 
the first place, the languages, scripts, and sacred books of 
the Arabs and other peoples, the revelation of the Koran, the 
order of its chapters, its collectors, redactors, and commen- 
tators. Passing next to the sciences which, as we have seen, 
arose from study of the Koran and primarily served as hand- 
maids to theology, he relates the origin of Grammar, and 
gives an account of the different schools of grammarians with 
the treatises which they wrote. The third discourse embraces 
History, Belles-Lettres, Biography, and Genealogy ; the fourth 
treats of Poetry, ancient and modern. Scholasticism [Kalam) 
forms the subject of the following chapter, which contains 
a valuable notice of the Isma'iKs and their founder, 'Abdullah 
b. Maymun, as also of the celebrated pantheist, Husayn b. 
Mansur al-Hallaj. From these and many other names redo- 
lent of heresy the author returns to the orthodox schools of 
Law — the Malikites, Hanafites, Shafi'ites and Zahirites ; then 
to the jurisconsults of the ShI'a, &c. The seventh discourse 
deals with Philosophy and ' the Ancient Sciences,' under which 
head we find some curious speculations concerning their 
origin and introduction to the lands of Islam ; a list of trans- 
lators and the books which they rendered into Arabic ; an 
account of the Greek philosophers from Thales to Plutarch, 
with the names of their works that were known to the Mos- 
lems ; and finally a literary survey of the remaining sciences, 
such as Mathematics, Music, Astronomy, and Medicine. 
Here, by an abrupt transition, we enter the enchanted domain 
of Oriental fable — the Hazdr Afsdn, or Thousand Tales, 
KaHla and Dimna, the Book of Sindbad, and the legends of 
Rustam and Isfandiyar ; works on sorcery, magic, conjuring, 
amulets, talismans, and the like. European savants have long 
recognised the importance of the ninth discourse, 1 which is 

1 The passages concerning the Sabians were edited and translated, with 
copious annotations, by Chwolsohn in his Ssabier und Ssabismus (St. 



364 POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE 



devoted to the doctrines and writings of the Sabians and the 
Dualistic sects founded by Manes, Bardesanes, Marcion, Maz- 
dak, and other heresiarchs. The author concludes his work 
with a chapter on the Alchemists (al-Kimiyaun). 

Petersburg, 1856), vol. ii, p. 1-365, while Fliigel made similar use of the 
Manichaean portion in Mani, seine Lehre und seine Schriften (Leipzig, 
1862). 



CHAPTER VIII 



We have already given some account of the great political 
revolution which took place under the 'Abbasid dynasty, and 

we have now to consider the no less vital influence 
T and A i b s?am ids of the new era in the field of religion. It will be 

remembered that the House of 'Abbas came 
forward as champions of Islam and of the oppressed and 
persecuted Faithful. Their victory was a triumph for the 
Muhammadan over the National idea. "They wished, as 
they said, to revive the dead Tradition of the Prophet. They 
brought the experts in Sacred Law from Medina, which had 
hitherto been their home, to Baghdad, and always invited 
their approbation by taking care that even political questions 
should be treated in legal form and decided in accordance with 
the Koran and the Sunna. In reality, however, they used Islam 
only to serve their own interest. They tamed the divines at 
their court and induced them to sanction the most objection- 
able measures. They made the pious Opposition harmless by 
leading it to victory. With the downfall of the Umayyads it 
had gained its end and could now rest in peace." 1 There 
is much truth in this view of the matter, but notwithstanding 
the easy character of their religion, the 'Abbasid Caliphs were 
sincerely devoted to the cause of Islam and zealous to maintain 
its principles in public life. They regarded themselves as the 

1 Wellhausen, Das Arabischc Reich, p. 350 seq. 
365 



366 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



supreme pontiffs of the Moslem Church ; added the Prophet's 
mantle {al-burdd) to those emblems of Umayyad royalty, the 
sceptre and the seal ; delighted in the pompous titles which 
their flatterers conferred on them, e.g.^ c Vicegerent of God,' 
'Sultan of God upon the Earth,' 'Shadow of God,' &c. ; 
and left no stone unturned to invest themselves with the 
attributes of theocracy, and to inspire their subjects with 
veneration. 1 Whereas the Umayyad monarchs ignored or 
crushed Muhammadan sentiment, and seldom made any 
attempt to conciliate the leading representatives 
theologians! of Islam, the 'Abbasids, on the other hand, not 
only gathered round their throne all the most 
celebrated theologians of the day, but also showed them every 
possible honour, listened respectfully to their counsel, and 
allowed them to exert a commanding influence on the admin- 
istration of the State. 2 When Malik b. Anas was summoned 
by the Caliph Harun al-Rashfd, who wished to hear him 
recite traditions, Malik replied, " People come to seek know- 
ledge." So Harun went to Malik's house, and leaned against 
the wall beside him. Malik said, " O Prince of the Faithful, 
whoever honours God, honours knowledge." Al-Rashid arose 
and seated himself at Malik's feet and spoke to him and heard 
him relate a number of traditions handed down from the 
Apostle of God. Then he sent for Sufy&n b. 'Uyayna, and 
Sufyan came to him and sat in his presence and recited 
traditions to him. Afterwards al-Rashid said, " O Malik, we 
humbled ourselves before thy knowledge, and profited thereby, 
but Sufyan's knowledge humbled itself to us, and we got no 
good from it." 3 Many instances might be given of the high 
favour which theologians enjoyed at this time, and of the 
lively interest with which religious topics were debated by the 

1 See Goldziher, Muhamm. Studien, Part II, p. 53 sqq. 

2 Ibid., p. 70 seq. 

3 Fragmenia Historicorum Arabicorum, ed. by De Goeje and De Jong, 
p. 298. 



THE DIVINES AND THE GOVERNMENT 367 



Caliph and his courtiers. As the Caliphs gradually lost their 
temporal sovereignty, the influence of the ^Ulamd — the 
doctors of Divinity and Law — continued to increase, so that 
ere long they formed a privileged class, occupying in Islam 
a position not unlike that of the priesthood in mediaeval 
Christendom. 

It will be convenient to discuss the religious phenomena of 
the 'Abbasid period under the following heads : — 

I. Rationalism and Free-thought. 

II. The Orthodox Reaction and the rise of Scholastic 
Theology. 

III. The Sufi Mysticism. 

I. The first century of 'Abbasid rule was marked, as we 
have seen, by a great intellectual agitation. All sorts of new 
ideas were in the air. It was an age of discovery 
R Fre°e n tho^t nd and awakening. In a marvellously brief space 
the diverse studies of Theology, Law, Medicine, 
Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Natural Science 
attained their maturity, if not their highest development. 
Even if some pious Moslems looked askance at the foreign 
learning and its professors, an enlightened spirit generally 
prevailed. People took their cue from the court, which 
patronised, or at least tolerated, 1 scientific research as well as 
theological speculation. 

These circumstances enabled the Mu'tazilites (see p. 222 sqq.) 
to propagate their liberal views without hindrance, and finally 
to carry their struggle against the orthodox party 

and their to a successful issue. It was the same conflict 

opponents. ^ at divided Nominalists and Realists in the days 
of Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Occam. As often 
happens when momentous principles are at stake, the whole 

1 There are, of course, some partial exceptions to this rule, e.g., Mahdi 
and Harun al-Rashid. 



368 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



controversy between Reason and Revelation turned on a 
single question — " Is the Koran created or uncreated ? " In 
other terms, is it the work of God or the Word of God ? 
According to orthodox belief, it is uncreated and has existed 
with God from all eternity, being in its present form merely 
a transcript of the heavenly archetype. 1 Obviously this con- 
ception of the Koran as the direct and literal Word of 
God left no room for exercise of the understanding, but 
required of those who adopted it a dumb faith and a blind 
fatalism. There were many to whom the sacrifice did not 
seem too great. The Mu'tazilites, on the contrary, asserted 
their intellectual freedom. It was possible, they said, to know 
God and distinguish good from evil without any Revelation at 
all. They admitted that the Koran was God's work, in the 
sense that it was produced by a divinely inspired Prophet, but 
they flatly rejected its deification. Some went so far as to 
criticise the 4 inimitable ' style, declaring that it could be 
surpassed in beauty and eloquence by the art of man. 2 

The Mu'tazilite controversy became a burning question in 
the reign of Ma'miin (813-833 a.d.), a Caliph whose scien- 
tific enthusiasm and keen interest in religious matters we have 
already mentioned. He did not inherit the orthodoxy of his 
father, Harun al-Rashid ; and it was believed that he 
was at heart a %indiq. His liberal tendencies would have been 
wholly admirable if they had not been marred by excessive 
intolerance towards those who held opposite views to his 
own. In 833 a.d., the year of his death, he promul- 
gated a decree which bound all Moslems to accept the 
Mu c tazilite doctrine as to the creation of the Koran on pain 
of losing their civil rights, and at the same time he estab- 
lished an inquisition (mihna) in order to obtain the assent of 

1 See p. 163, note. 

2 Several freethinkers of this period attempted to rival the Koran with 
their own compositions. See Goldziher, Muhamm. Studien, Part II, 
p. 401 seq. 



THE MU'TAZILITES IN POWER 369 



the divines, judges, and doctors of law. Those who would 
not take the test were flogged and threatened with the sword. 

After Ma'mun's death the persecution still went on, 
adopteTand'put although it was conducted in a more moderate 
caiiph C Ma-m^n. fashion. Popular feeling ran strongly against the 

Mu'tazilites. The most prominent figure in the 
orthodox camp was the Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, who firmly- 
resisted the new dogma from the first. "But for him," says 
the Sunnite historian, Abu '1-Mahasin, " the beliefs of a great 
number would have been corrupted." 1 Neither threats nor 
entreaties could shake his resolution, and when he was 
scourged by command of the Caliph Mu'tasim, the palace 
was in danger of being wrecked by an angry mob which had 
assembled outside to hear the result of the trial. The Mu'ta- 
zilite dogma remained officially in force until it was abandoned 

by the Caliph Wathiq and once more declared 
returns to heretical by the cruel and bigoted Mutawakkil 

orthodoxy. 

(847 a.d.). From that time to this the victorious 
party have sternly suppressed every rationalistic movement in 
Islam. 

According to Steiner, the original Mu'tazilite heresy arose 
in the bosom of Islam, independently of any foreign influence, 

but, however that may be, its later development 
'iuSe^ 6 was largely affected by Greek philosophy. We 

need not attempt to follow the recondite specula- 
tions of Abu Hudhayl al-'Allaf (t about 840 a.d.) of his 
contemporaries, al-Nazzam, Bishr b. al-Mu £ tamir, and others, 
and of the philosophical schools of Basra and Baghdad in which 
the movement died away. Vainly they sought to replace the 
Muhammadan idea of God as will by the Aristotelian concep- 
tion of God as law. Their efforts to purge the Koran of 
anthropomorphism made no impression on the faithful, who 
ardently hoped to see God in Paradise face to face. What 
they actually achieved was little enough. Their weapons of 
1 Al-Nujum aUZdhira, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 639. 
25 



370 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



logic and dialectic were turned against them with triumphant 
success, and scholastic theology was founded on the ruins of 
Rationalism. Indirectly, however, the Mu'tazilite principles 
leavened Muhammadan thought to a considerable extent and 
cleared the way for other liberal movements, like the Fraternity 
of the Ikhwdnu U-Safd, which endeavoured to harmonise 
authority with reason, and to construct a universal system of 
religious philosophy. 

These * Brethren of Purity,' 1 as they called themselves, com- 
piled a great encyclopaedic work in fifty tractates (Rasa it). Of 

the authors, who flourished at Basra towards the 
T \ I SafZ inu en( * °f tne tenth century, five are known to us 

by name : viz., Abu Sulayman Mubammad b. 
Ma'shar al-Bayusti or al-Muqaddasi (Maqdisi), Abu 'l-Hasan 
<Alf b. Harun al-Zanjanl, Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajanl, al-'Awff, 
and Zayd b. Rifa'a. " They formed a society for the pursuit 
of holiness, purity, and truth, and established amongst them- 
selves a doctrine whereby they hoped to win the approval of 
God, maintaining that the Religious Law was defiled by 
ignorance and adulterated by errors, and that there was no 
means of cleansing and purifying it except philosophy, which 
united the wisdom of faith and the profit of research. They 
held that a perfect result would be reached if Greek philosophy 
were combined with Arabian religion. Accordingly they com- 
posed fifty tracts on every branch of philosophy, theoretical as 
well as practical, added a separate index, and entitled them the 
4 Tracts of the Brethren of Purity' (Rastfilu Ikhwdn al-Safd). 
The authors of this work concealed their names, but circulated 
it among the booksellers and gave it to the public. They 
filled their pages with devout phraseology, religious parables, 
metaphorical expressions, and figurative turns of style." 2 

1 This is the literal translation of Ikhwdnu 'l-Safd, but according to 
Arabic idiom ' brother of purity ' (akhu 'l-safd) simply means 1 one who is 
pure or sincere,' as has been shown by Goldziher, Muhamm. Studien, 
Part I, p. 9, note. The term does not imply any sort of brotherhood. 

2 Ibnu 'l-Qifti, Ta'rikhu 'l-Hukamd (ed. by Lippert), p. 83, 1. 17 sqq. 



THE BRETHREN OF PURITY 371 

Nearly all the tracts have been translated into German by 
Dieterici, who has also drawn up an epitome of the whole 
encyclopaedia in his Philosophie der Araber im X Jahrhundert. 
It would take us too long to describe the system of the Ikhwdn, 
but the reader will find an excellent account of it in Stanley 
Lane-Poole's Studies in a Mosque, 2nd ed., p. 176 sqq. The 
view has recently been put forward that the Brethren of Purity 
were in some way connected with the Isma'i'H propaganda, and 
that their eclectic idealism represents the highest teaching of 
the Fatimids, Carmathians, and Assassins. Strong evidence in 
support of this theory is supplied by a MS. of the Bibliotheque 
Nationale (No. 2309 in De Slane's Catalogue), which contains, 
together with fragments of the Rasa'il, a hitherto unknown 
tract entitled the Jami c a or ' Summary.' 1 The latter purports 
to be the essence and crown of the fifty Rasd'il, it is manifestly 
Isma'llite in character, and, assuming that it is genuine, we 
may, I think, agree with the conclusions which its discoverer, 
M. P. Casanova, has stated in the following passage : — 

" Surtout je crois etre dans le vrai en affirmant que les doctrines 
philosophiques des Ismailiens sont contenues tout entieres dans les 
Epitres des Freres de la Purete. Et c'est ce qui 
The doctrines of explique ' la seduction extraordinaire que la doctrine 
Purify Identical exercait sur des hommes serieux.' 2 En y ajoutant la 
^iiosoV^the crovance en imdm cache (al-imdm al-mastur) qui doit 
isma'iHs. apparaitre un jour pour etablir le bonheur universel, 
elle realisait la fusion de toutes les doctrines idealistes, 
du messianisme et du platonisme. Tant que V imam restait cache, 
il s'y melait encore une saveur de mystere qui attachait les esprits 
les plus eleves. . . . En tous cas, on peut affirmer que les Carmathes 
et les Assassins ont ete profondement calomnies quand ils ont ete 
accuses par leurs adversaires d'atheisme et de debauche. Le fetwa 
d' Ibn Taimiyyah, que j'ai cite plus haut, pretend que leur dernier 
degre dans V initiation (al-baldgh al-akbar) est la negation meme du 
Createur. Mais la djdmi'at que nous avons decouverte est, comme 



1 Notice sur un manuscrit de la sectedes Assassins, by P. Casanova in the 
Journal Asiatique for 1898, p. 151 sqq. 

2 De Goeje, Memoire sur les Carmathes, p. 172. 



372 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



tout l'indique, le dernier degre de<la science des Freres de la Purete 
et des Ismailiens ; il n'y a rien de fonde dans une telle accusation. 
La doctrine apparait tres pure, tres elevee, tres simple meme : je 
repete que c'est une sorte de pantheisme mecaniste et esthetique qui 
est absolument oppose au scepticisme et au materialisme, car il repose 
sur 1' harmonie generate de toutes les parties du monde, harmonie 
voulue par le Createur parce qu'elle est la beaute meme. 

" Ma conclusion sera que nous avons la un exemple de plus dans 
l'histoire d' une doctrine tres pure ettres elevee en theorie, devenue, 
entre les mains des fanatiques et des ambitieux, une source d'actes 
monstrueux et meritant l'inf amie qui est attachee a ce nom historique 
d' Assassins." 

Besides the Mu'tazilites, we hear much of another class of 
heretics who are commonly grouped together under the name 
of Zindiqs. 

" It is well known," says Goldziher, 1 " that the earliest 
persecution was directed against those individuals who man- 
aged more or less adroitly to conceal under 

The Zindiqs. 65 J 

the veil of Islam old Persian religious ideas. 
Sometimes indeed they did not consider any disguise to be 
necessary, but openly set up dualism and other Persian or 
Manichaean doctrines, and the practices associated therewith, 
against the dogma and usage of Islam. Such persons were 
called Zindiqs, a term which comprises different shades of 
heresy and hardly admits of simple definition. Firstly, there 
are the old Persian families incorporated in Islam who, following 
the same path as the Shu'ubites, have a national interest in the 
revival of Persian religious ideas and traditions, and from this 
point of view react against the Arabian character of the 
Muhammadan system. Then, on the other hand, there are 
freethinkers, who oppose in particular the stubborn dogma 
of Islam, reject positive religion, and acknowledge only the 
moral law. Amongst the latter there is developed a monkish 

1 Sdlih b. l Abd al-Quddus und das Zindikthum wahrend der Regierung 
des Chalifen al-Mahdi in Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists, 
vol. ii, p. 105 seq. 



THE ZINDlQS 



373 



asceticism extraneous to Islam and ultimately traceable to 
Buddhistic influences." 

The 'Abbasid Government, which sought to enforce an 
official standard of belief, was far less favourable to religious 
liberty than the Umayyads had been. Orthodox and heretic 
alike fell under its ban. While Ma'mun harried pious Sunnites, 
his immediate predecessors raised a hue and cry against Zindiqs. 
The Caliph Mahdf distinguished himself by an organised perse- 
cution of these enemies of the faith. He appointed a Grand In- 
quisitor (Sdhibu U-Zanddiqa 1 or c Arifu 'l-Zanddiqa) 
Per S/g°s nof to discover and hunt them down. If they would 
not recant when called upon, they were put to 
death and crucified, and their books 2 were cut to pieces with 
knives.3 Mahdi's example was followed by Hddi and Hartin 
al-Rashid. Some of the 'Abbdsids, however, were less severe. 
Thus Khasib, Mansur's physician, was a Zindiq who professed 
Christianity, 4 and in the reign of Ma'mun it became the mode 
to affect Manichaean opinions as a mark of elegance and re- 
finement.5 

The two main types of zandaqa which have been described 
above are illustrated in the contemporary poets, Bashshar b. 

Burd and Salih b. <Abd al-Quddus. Bashstar 
BaS Burd rb ' was Dorn stone-blind. The descendant of a noble 

Persian family — though his father, Burd, was a 
slave — he cherished strong national sentiments and did not 
attempt to conceal his sympathy with the Persian clients 
(Mawdlf), whom he was accused of stirring up against their 
Arab lords. He may also have had leanings towards Zoroastri- 
anism, but Professor Bevan has observed that there is no real 

1 Tabari, iii, 522, 1. 

8 I.e. the sacred books of the Manichaeans, which were often splendidly 
illuminated. See Von Kremer, Culturgesch. Streifziige, p. 39. 

3 Cf. Tabari, iii, 499, 8 sqq. 

4 Ibid., iii, 422, 19 sqq. 

s Cf. the saying " Azrafu mina 'l-Zindiq " (Freytag, Atabum Proverbia, 
vol. i, p. 214). 



374 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



evidence for this statement, 1 which is improbable in view of 
the fact that Bashsh&r was a thorough sceptic and used to 
dispute with a number of noted freethinkers in Basra, e.g., with 
Wasil b. 'Ati, who started the Mu'tazilite heresy, and 'Amr 
b. 'Ubayd. He and Salih b. 'Abd al-Quddus were put to 
death by the Caliph Mahdi in the same year (783 a.d.). 

This Salih belonged by birth or affiliation to the Arab tribe 
of Azd. Of his life we know little beyond the circumstance 

that he was for some time a street-preacher at 
^ai-Qudd4s d Basra, and afterwards at Damascus. It is possible 

that his public doctrine was thought dangerous, 
although the preachers as a class were hand in glove with the 
Church and did not, like the Lollards, denounce religious 
abuses. 2 His extant poetry contains nothing heretical, but is 
wholly moral and didactic in character. We have seen, how- 
ever, in the case of Abu 'l-'Atihiya, that Muhammadan 
orthodoxy was apt to connect * the philosophic mind ' with 
positive unbelief ; and Salih appears to have fallen a victim to 
this prejudice. He was accused of being a dualist (thanawi), 
i.e. y a Manichaean. Mahdi, it is said, conducted his examination 
in person, and at first let him go free, but the poet's fate was 
sealed by his confession that he was the author ot the following 
verses : — 

"The greybeard will not leave what in the bone is bred 
Until the dark tomb covers him with earth o'erspread ; 
For, tho' deterred awhile, he soon returns again 
To his old folly, as the sick man to his pain." 3 



1 As Professor Bevan points out, it is based solely on the well-known 
verse (Aghdni, iii, 24, 1. 11), which has come down to us without the 
context : — 

" Earth is dark and Fire is bright. 
And Fire has been worshipped ever since Fire existed." 

2 These popular preachers (qussds) are admirably described by Gold- 
ziher, Muhamm. Studien, Part II, p. 161 sqq. 

3 The Arabic text of these verses will be found in Goldziher's mono- 
graph, p. 122, 11. 6-7. 



THE ZINDlQS 



375 



Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arrf, himself a bold and derisive critic of 
Muhammadan dogmas, devotes an interesting section of his 

Risalatu 'l-Ghufrdn to the Zindlqs, and says 
ai-Ma'am on the many hard things about them, which were no 

doubt intended to throw dust in the eyes of a 
suspicious audience. The wide scope of the term is shown 
by the fact that he includes under it the pagan chiefs of 
Quraysh ; the Umayyad Caliph Walid b. Yazid ; the poets 
Di'bil, Abu Nuwas, Bashshar, and Salih b. <Abd al-Quddus ; 
Abu Muslim, who set up the 'Abbasid dynasty ; the Persian 
rebels, Babak and Mazyar ; Afshm, who after conquering 
Babak was starved to death by the Caliph Mu'tasim ; the 
Carmathian leader al-Jannabi ; Ibnu 'l-Rawandf, whose work 
entitled the Ddmigh was designed to discredit the c miraculous ' 
style of the Koran ; and Husayn b. Mansur al-Hallaj, the 
Sufi martyr. Most of these, one may admit, fall within Abu 
'l-'Ala's definition of the Zindiqs : " they acknowledge neither 
prophet nor sacred book." The name Zindiq, which is applied 
by Jahiz (t 868 a.d.) to the Buddhists, 1 seems in the first 
instance to have been used of Manes (Mdnl) and his followers, 
and is no doubt derived, as Professor Bevan has suggested, from 
the zaddiqs, who formed an elect class in the Manichaean 
hierarchy. 2 

II. The official recognition of Rationalism as the State 
religion came to an end on the accession of Mutawakkil 
in 847 a.d. The new Caliph, who owed his throne to the 

1 See a passage from the Kitdbu 'l-Hayawdn, cited by Baron V. Rosen 
in Zapiski, vol. vi, p. 337. 

2 Zaddiq is an Aramaic word meaning 'righteous.' Its etymological 
equivalent in Arabic is siddiq, which has a different meaning, namely, 
'veracious.' Zaddiq passed into Persian in the form Zandik, which was 
used by the Persians before Islam, and Zindiq is the Arabicised form of 
the latter word. For some of these observations I am indebted to Professor 
Bevan. Further details concerning the derivation and meaning of Zindiq 
are given in Professor Browne's Literary Hist, of Persia (vol. i, p. 159 sqq.), 
where the reader will also find a lucid account of the Manichaean doctrines. 



376 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



Turkish Praetorians, could not have devised a surer means 
of making himself popular than by standing forward as the 

avowed champion of the faith of the masses. He 
Th Reacti 1 o°n° x P ersecutea ' impartially Jews, Christians, Mu't- 

azilites, Shi'ites, and Sufis — every one, in short, 
who diverged from the narrowest Sunnite orthodoxy. The 
Vizier Ibn AW Du'dd, who had shown especial zeal in his 
conduct of the Mu'tazilite Inquisition, was disgraced, and the 
bulk of his wealth was confiscated. In Baghdad the followers of 
Ahmad b. Hanbal went from house to house terrorising the 
citizens, 1 and such was their fanatical temper that when Tabarl, 
the famous divine and historian, died in 923 a.d., they would not 
allow his body to receive the ordinary rites of burial. 2 Finally, 
in the year 935 a.d., the Caliph Radf issued an edict denouncing 
them in these terms : u Ye assert that your ugly, ill-favoured 
faces are in the likeness of the Lord of Creation, and that your 
vile exterior resembles His, and ye speak of the hand, the fingers, 
the feet, the golden shoes, and the curly hair (of God), and of 
His going up to Heaven and of His coming down to Earth. . . . 
The Commander of the Faithful swears a binding oath that 
unless ye refrain from your detestable practices and perverse 
tenets he will lay the sword to your necks and the fire to your 
dwellings." 3 Evidently the time was ripe for a system which 
should reconcile the claims of . tradition and reason, avoiding 
the gross anthropomorphism of the extreme Hanbalites on the 
one side and the pure rationalism of the advanced Mu'tazilites 
(who were still a power to be reckoned with) on the other. 
It is a frequent experience that great intellectual or religious 
movements rising slowly and invisibly, in response, as it were, 
to some incommunicable want, suddenly find a distinct inter- 
preter with whose name they are henceforth associated for 
ever. The man, in this case, was Abu '1-Hasan al-Ash'arf. 
He belonged to a noble and traditionally orthodox family of 

1 Ibnu '1-Athir, vol. viii, p. 229 seq. (anno 323 a.h. =934-935 a.d.). 

2 Ibid., p. 98. 3 Ibid., p. 230 seq. 



ABU 'L-HASAN AL-ASH'ARl 377 



Yemenite origin. One of his ancestors was Abu Musa 
al-Ash'an, who, as the reader will recollect, played a somewhat 

inglorious, part in the arbitration between 'AH and 
A ai U As?ar S i an Mu'awiya after the battle of SiffW Born in 873- 

874 a.d. at Basra, a city renowned for its scientific 
and intellectual fertility, the young Abu 'l-Hasan deserted the 
faith of his fathers, attached himself to the freethinking school, 
and until his fortieth year was the favourite pupil and intimate 
friend of al-Jubba'i (t 915 a.d.), the head of the Mu'tazilite 
party at that time. He is said to have broken with his teacher 
in consequence of a dispute as to whether God always does 
what is best [aslah) for His creatures. The story is related as 
follows by Ibn Khallikan (De Slane's translation, vol. ii, 
p. 669 seq.) : — - 

Ash'ari proposed to Jubba'i the case of three brothers, one of 
whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious ; the second an infidel, 

a debauchee and a reprobate ; and the third an infant : 
th S re°ebrothe?s. tne Y a11 died, and Ash'ari wished to know what had 

become of them. To this Jubba'i answered: "The 
virtuous brother holds a high station in Paradise ; the infidel 
is in the depths of Hell, and the child is among those who 
have obtained salvation." 2 "Suppose now," said Ash'ari, "that 
the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous 
brother, would he be allowed to do so ? " " No," replied Jubba'i, 
" it would be said to him : ' Thy brother arrived at this place through 
his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou hast no 
such works to set forward.' " " Suppose then," said Ash'ari, " that the 
child say : ' That is not my fault ; you did not let me live long 
enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedi- 
ence.' " "In that case," answered Jubba'i, "the Almighty would 
say : ' I knew that if I had allowed thee to live, thou wouldst have 
been disobedient and incurred the severe punishment (of Hell) ; 
I therefore acted for thy advantage;"' "Well," said Ash'ari, "and 
suppose the infidel brother were to say : ' O God of the universe ! 
since you knew what awaited him, you must have known what 



1 See p. 192. 

* I.e., he is saved from Hell but excluded from Paradise. 



378 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



awaited me ; why then did you act for his advantage and not for 
mine ? " Jubba'i had not a word to offer in reply. 

Soon afterwards Ash'arf made a public recantation. One 
Friday, while sitting (as his biographer relates) in the chair 

from which he taught in the great mosque of 
conversion to Basra, he cried out at the top of his voice : " They 

who know me know who I am : as for those 
who do not know me I will tell them. I am 'All b. 
Isma'll al-Ash'an, and I used to hold that the Koran was 
created, that the eyes of men shall not see God, and that we 
ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds. Now I have 
returned to the truth ; I renounce these opinions, and I under- 
take to refute the Mu'tazilites and expose their infamy and 
turpitude." 1 

These anecdotes possess little or no historical value, but 
illustrate the fact that Ash'arf, having learned all that the 
Mu'tazilites could teach him and having thoroughly mastered 
their dialectic, turned against them with deadly force the 
weapons which they had put in his hands. His doctrine on 
the subject of free-will may serve to exemplify the method of 
Kaldm (Disputation) by which he propped up the orthodox 

creed. 2 Here, as in other instances, Ash'an took 
A £underof e the central path — medio tutissimus — between two 
Theology? extremes. It was the view of the early Moslem 

Church — a view justified by the Koran and the 
Apostolic Traditions — that everything was determined in 
advance and inscribed, from all eternity, on the Guarded Tablet 
(al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) y so that men had no choice but to commit 
the actions decreed by destiny. The Mu'tazilites, on the 

1 Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wiistenfeld, No. 440 ; De Slane's translation, 
vol. ii, p. 228. 

2 The clearest statement of Ash'ari's doctrine with which I am acquainted 
is contained in the Creed published by Spitta, Zur Geschichte Abu 'l-Hasan 
al-Ash'ari's (Leipzig, 1876), p. 133, 1. 9 sqq. ; German translation, p. 95 sqq. 
It has been translated into English by D. B. Macdonald in his Muslim 
Theology, p. 293 and foil. 



MOSLEM SCHOLASTICISM 379 



contrary, denied that God could be the author of evil and 
insisted that men's actions were free. Ash'ari, on his part, 
declared that all actions are created and predestined by God, 
but that men have a certain subordinate power which enables 
them to acquire the actions previously created, although it 
produces no effect on the actions themselves. Human agency, 
therefore, was confined to this process of acquisition (kasb). 
With regard to the anthropomorphic passages in the Koran, 
Ash'ari laid down the rule that such expressions as " The 
Merciful has settled himself upon His throne" " Both His hands 
are spread out" &c, must be taken in their obvious sense without 
asking 'How?' [bila kayfa). Spitta saw in the system of 
Ash'an a successful revolt of the Arabian national spirit against 
the foreign ideas which were threatening to overwhelm Islam, 1 
a theory which does not agree with the fact that most of the 
leading Ash'arites were Persians. 2 Von Kremer came nearer 
the mark when he said " Ash'ari's victory was simply a clerical 
triumph," 3 but it was also, as Schreiner has observed, " a 
victory of reflection over unthinking faith." 

The victory, however, was not soon or easily won.4 Many 
of the orthodox disliked the new Scholasticism hardly less than 
the old Rationalism. Thus it is not surprising to read in the 
Kdmil of Ibnu '1-Athfr under the year 456 a.h. = 1046 a.d., 
that Alp Arslan's Vizier, 'Amidu 'l-Mulk al-Kundurf, having 
obtained his master's permission to have curses pronounced 
against the Rafidites (Shi'ites) from the pulpits of Khurasan, 
included the Ash'arites in the same malediction, and that 
the famous Ash'arite doctors, Abu '1-Qasim al-Qushayn 
and the Imamu '1-Haramayn Abu '1-Ma c ali al-Juwaynl, left 
the country in consequence. The great Nizamu 'l-Mulk 

1 Op. tit, p. 7 seq. 

2 Schreiner, Zur Geschichte des Ash'aritenthums in the Proceedings of the 
Eighth International Congress of Orientalists (1889), p. 5 of the tirage a fart. 

3 Z.D.M.G., vol. 31, p. 167. 

* See Goldziher in Z.D.M.G., vol. 41, p. 63 seq., whence the following 
details are derived. 



380 ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT 



exerted himself on behalf of the Ash'arites, and the Nizamiyya 
College, which he founded in Baghddd in the year 1067 a.d., 
was designed to propagate their system of theology. But the 
man who stamped it with the impression of his own powerful 
genius, fixed its ultimate form, and established it as the 
universal creed of orthodox Islam, was Abu Hamid al-Ghazdli 
(1058-1111 a.d.). We have already sketched the outward 
course of his life, and need only recall that he lectured at Baghdad 
in the Niz&miyya College for four years (1091-1095 a.d.). 1 
At the end of that time he retired from the world as a Surf, and 
so brought to a calm and fortunate close the long spiritual 
travail which he has himself described in the Munqidh mlna 
H-Dalal^ or i Deliverer from Error.' 2 We must now attempt 
to give the reader some notion of this work, both on account of 
its singular psychological interest and because Ghazdli's search 
for religious truth exercised, as will shortly appear, a profound 
and momentous influence upon the future history of Muham- 
madan thought. It begins with these words : — 

" In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise 
be to God by the praise of whom every written or spoken discourse 

is opened ! And blessings on Muhammad, the Elect, 
autobiography, the Prophet and Apostle, as well as on his family and 

his companions who lead us forth from error ! To 
proceed : You have asked me, O my brother in religion, to explain 
to you the hidden meanings and the ultimate goal of the sciences, 
and the secret bane of the different doctrines, and their inmost 
depths. You wish me to relate all that I have endured in seeking 
to recover the truth from amidst the confusion of sects with diverse 
ways and paths, and how I have dared to raise myself from the 
abyss of blind belief in authority to the height of discernment. You 
desire to know what benefits I have derived in the first place from 
Scholastic Theology, and what I have appropriated, in the second 



1 See p. 339 seq. 

2 I have used the Cairo edition of 1309 a.h. A French translation by 
Barbier de Meynard was published in the Journal Asiatique (January, 
1877), PP. 9-93- 



ghazAl! 



381 



place, from the methods of the Ta'Kmites 1 who think that truth can 
be attained only by submission to the authority of an Imam ; and 
thirdly, my reasons for spurning the systems of philosophy ; and, 
lastly, why I have accepted the tenets of Sufiism : you are anxious, 
in short, that I should impart to you the essential truths which I 
have learned in my repeated examination of the (religious) opinions 
of mankind." 

In a very interesting passage, which has been translated by 
Professor Browne, Ghazali tells how from his youth upward he 
was possessed with an intense thirst for knowledge, which 
impelled him to study every form of religion and philosophy, 
and to question all whom he met concerning the nature and 
meaning of their belief. 2 But when he tried to distinguish 
the true from the false, he found no sure test. He could not 
trust the evidence of his senses. The eye sees a shadow and 
declares it to be without movement ; or a star, and deems it 
no larger than a piece of gold. If the senses thus deceive, 
may not the mind do likewise ? Perhaps our life is a dream 
full of phantom thoughts which we mistake for realities — until 
the awakening comes, either in moments of ecstasy or at 
death. " For two months," says Ghazali, u I was actually, 
though not avowedly, a sceptic." Then God gave him light, 
so that he regained his mental balance and was able to think 
soundly. He resolved that this faculty must guide him to the 
truth, since blind faith once lost never returns. Accordingly, 
he set himself to examine the foundations of belief in four 
classes of men who were devoted to the search for truth, 
namely, Scholastic Theologians, Esoterics (Bdtiniyya), 
Philosophers, and Sufis. For a long while he had to be content 
with wholly negative results. Scholasticism was, he admitted, 
an excellent purge against heresy, but it could not cure the 
disease from which he was suffering. As for the philosophers, 
all of them — Materialists (Dahriyyun), Naturalists (TabiHyyun\ 

1 These are the Isma'ilis or Batinis (including the Carmathians and 
Assassins). See p. 271 sqq. 
* A Literary History of Persia, vol. ii, p. 295 seq. 



382 ORTHODOXY AND PREE-THOUGHT 



and Theists (I/dhiyyun) — "are branded with infidelity and 
impiety." Here, as often in his discussion of the philosophical 
schools, Ghazalfs religious instinct breaks out. We cannot 
imagine him worshipping at the shrine of pure reason any 
more than we can imagine Herbert Spencer at Lourdes. 
He next turned to the Ta'Hmites (Doctrinists) or Batinites 
(Esoterics), who claimed that they knew the truth, and that its 
unique source was the infallible Imam. But when he came to 
close quarters with these sectaries, he discovered that they 
could teach him nothing, and their mysterious Imam vanished 
into space. Sufiism, therefore, was his last hope. He carefully 
studied the writings of the mystics, and as he read it became 
clear to him that now he was on the right path. He saw 
that the higher stages of Sufiism could not be learned by 
study, but must be realised by actual experience, that is, by 
rapture, ecstasy, and moral transformation. After a painful 
struggle with himself he resolved to cast aside all his worldly 
ambition and to live for God alone. In the month of Dhu 
'l-Qa'da, 488 a.h. (November, 1095 a.d.), he left Baghdad 
and wandered forth to Syria, where he found in the Sufi disci- 
pline of prayer, praise, and meditation the peace which his 
soul desired. 

Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald, to whom we owe the best and 
fullest life of Ghazalf that has yet been written, sums up his 
work and influence in Islam under four heads 1 : — 

First, he led men back from scholastic labours upon theo- 
logical dogmas to living contact with, study and exegesis of, 
the Word and the Traditions. 

Second, in his preaching and moral exhortations be re-intro- 
duced the element of fear. 

Thirds it was by his influence that Sufiism attained a firm 
and assured position within the Church of Islam. 

1 The Life of al-Ghazzalt in the Journal of the American Oriental 
Society, vol. xx (1899), p. 122 sqq. 



GHAZAU 



383 



Fourth, he brought philosophy and philosophical theology 
within the range of the ordinary mind. 

" Of these four phases of al-Ghazzali's work," says Macdonald, " the 
first and third are undoubtedly the most important. He made his 
mark by leading Islam back to its fundamental and his- 
?nd Z hifluence k torica ^ f act s, and by giving a place in its system to the 
emotional religious life. But it will have been noticed 
that in none of the four phases was he a pioneer. He was not a 
scholar who struck out a new path, but a man of intense personality 
who entered on a path already trodden and made it the common 
highway. We have here his character. Other men may have 
been keener logicians, more learned theologians, more gifted 
saints ; but he, through his personal experiences, had attained so 
overpowering a sense of the divine realities that the force of his 
character — once combative and restless, now narrowed and intense 
— swept all before it, and the Church of Islam entered on a new era 
of its existence." 



III. We have traced the history of Mysticism in Islam from 
the ascetic movement of the first century, in which it originated, 
to a point where it begins to pass beyond the 
•AbS period, sphere of Muhammadan influence and to enter 
on a strange track, of which the Prophet assuredly 
never dreamed, although the Stiffs constantly pretend that they 
alone are his true followers. I do not think it can be main- 
tained that Sufiism of the theosophical and pantheistic type, 
which we have now to consider, is merely a development of the 
older asceticism and quietism which have been described in a 
former chapter. The difference between them is essential and 
must be attributed, as Von Kremer saw, 1 to the intrusion of 
some extraneous, non-Islamic, element. As to the nature of 
this new element there are several conflicting theories, which 
have been so clearly and fully stated by Professor Browne in 
his Literary History of Persia (vol. i, p. 418 sqq.) that I need 
not dwell upon them here. Briefly it is claimed — 



1 Herrschende Ideen, p. 67. 



3^4 



MYSTICISM 



(a) That Sufiism owes its inspiration to Indian philosophy, 

and especially to the Vedanta. 

(b) That the most characteristic ideas in Sufiism are of 

Persian origin. 

(c) That these ideas are derived from Neo-platonism. 
Instead of arguing for or against any of the above theories, 
all of which, in my opinion, contain a measure of truth, I 
propose in the following pages to sketch the historical evolution 
of the Sufi doctrine as far as the materials at my disposal will 
permit. This, it seems to me, is the only possible method by 
which we may hope to arrive at a definite conclusion as to its 
origin. Since mysticism in all ages and countries is funda- 
mentally the same, however it may be modified by its peculiar 
environment, and by the positive religion to which it clings 
for support, we find remote and unrelated systems showing 
an extraordinarily close likeness and even coinciding in many 
features of verbal expression. Such resemblances can prove 
little or nothing unless they are corroborated by evidence 
based on historical grounds. Most writers on Sufiism have 
disregarded this principle ; hence the confusion which exists at 
present. The first step in the right direction was made by 
Adalbert Merx, 1 who derived valuable results from a chrono- 
logical examination of the sayings of the early Sufis. He did 
not, however, carry his researches beyond Abu Sulayman 
al-Darani (f 830 a.d.), and confined his attention almost 
entirely to the doctrine, which, according to my view, should 
be studied in connection with the lives, character, and nation- 
ality of the men %/ho taught it. 2 No doubt the origin and 
growth of mysticism in Islam, as in all other religions, ultimately 
depended on general causes and conditions, not on external 

1 Idee und Grundlinien ciner allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik, an 
academic oration delivered on November 22, 1892, and published at 
Heidelberg in 1893. 

2 The following sketch is founded on my paper, A Historical Enquiry 
concerning the Origin and Development of Sufiism (J.R.A.S., April, 1906, 
p. 303 sqq). 



PRINCIPLES OF INVESTIGATION 385 



circumstances. For example, the political anarchy of the 
Umayyad period, the sceptical tendencies of the early ' Ab- 
basid age, and particularly the dry formalism or Moslem 
theology could not fail to provoke counter-movements towards 
quietism, spiritual authority, and emotional faith. But although 
Sufiism was not called into being by any impulse from without 
(this is too obvious to require argument), the influences or 
which I am about to speak have largely contributed to make 
it what it is, and have coloured it so deeply that no student of 
the history of Sufiism can afford to neglect them. 

Towards the end of the eighth century of our era the 
influence 01 new ideas is discernible in the sayings of Ma'rui 
al-Karkhi (t 815 a.d.), a contemporary of Fudayl 

Ma (+ U 8i5A K D a ) khi b - 'ty 5 ^ and Sha q*q of Balkh. He was born in 
the neighbourhood of Wdsit, one of the great 
cities of Mesopotamia, and the name of his father, Ffruz, or 
Firuzan, shows that he had Persian blood in his veins. Ma'ruf 
was a client {mawla) of the Shi'ite Imam, 'All b. Musa" 
al-Ridd, in whose presence he made profession of Islam ; for he 
had been brought up as a Christian (such is the usual account), 
or, possibly, as a Mandaean. He lived during the reign 
of Hariin al-Rashid in the Karkh quarter of Baghdad, where 
he gained a high reputation for saintliness, so that his tomb in 
that city is still an object of veneration. He is described as a 
God-intoxicated man, but in this respect he is not to be com- 
pared with many who came after him. Nevertheless, he 
deserves to stand at the head of the theosophical as opposed 
to the ascetic school of Sufis. He defined Sufiism as " the 
apprehension of Divine realities and renunciation of human 
possessions." 1 Here are a few of his sayings : — 

" Love is not to be learned from men ; it is one of God's gifts and 
comes of His grace. 



1 This, so far as I know, is the oldest extant definition of Sufiism. 

26 



336 



MYSTICISM 



"The Saints of God are known by three signs : their thought is of 
God, their dwelling is with God, and their business is in God. 

" If the gnostic ('drif) has no bliss, yet he himself is in every bliss. 
" When you desire anything of God, swear to Him by me." 

From these last words, which Ma'ruf addressed to his pupil 
Sari al-Saqatf, it is manifest that he regarded himself as being 
in the most intimate communion with God. 

Abu Sulayman (t 830 a.d.), the next great name in the 
Sufi biographies, was also a native of Wasit, but afterwards 
emigrated to Syria and settled at Daraya (near 
Ab ai-i?irS an Damascus), whence he is called * al-Darani.' He 

(+830 a.d.). developed the doctrine of gnosis (ma'rifat). Those 
who are familiar with the language of European mystics — 
illuminatio, oculus cordis, &c. — will easily interpret such sayings 
as these : — 



" None refrains from the lusts of this world save him in whose 
heart there is light that keeps him always busied with the next 
world. 

"When the gnostic's spiritual eye is opened, his bodily eye is shut : 
they see nothing but Him. 

" If Gnosis were to take visible form, all that looked thereon would 
die at the sight of its beauty and loveliness and goodness and grace, 
and every brightness would become dark beside the splendour 
thereof. 1 

" Gnosis is nearer to silence than to speech." 

We now come to Dhu '1-Nun al-Misn (t 860 a.d.), whom 
the Suris themselves consider to be the primary author of their 
doctrine. 2 That he at all events contributed 

Dhu '1-Nun , , 

ai-Misn more than any one else to give it permanent 
(t86oA.D.). gj^pg j s a f act wn i cn i s amply attested by the 

collection of his sayings preserved in 'Attar's Memoirs of the 

1 It is impossible not to recognise the influence of Greek philosophy in 
this conception of Truth as Beauty. 

2 Jami says {Nafahdtu 'l-Uns, ed. by Nassau Lees, p. 36) : " He is the 
head of this sect : they all descend from, and are related to, him." 



DHU 'L-NUN AL~MISRf 



387 



Saints and in other works of the same kind. 1 It is clear that 
the theory of gnosis, with which he deals at great length, was 
the central point in his system ; and he seems to have intro- 
duced the doctrine that true knowledge of God is attained only 
by means of ecstasy (wajd). "The man that knows God 
best," he said, " is the one most lost in Him." Like Dionysius, 
he refused to make any positive statements about the Deity. 
" Whatever you imagine, God is the contrary of that." 
Divine love he regarded as an ineffable mystery which must 
not be revealed to the profane. All this is the very essence 
of the later Sufiism. It is therefore supremely important 
to ascertain the real character of Dhu '1-Nun and the in- 
fluences to which he was subjected. The following account 
gives a brief summary of what I have been able to discover ; 
fuller details will be found in the article mentioned above. 

His name was Abu '1-Fayd Thawban b. Ibrahim, Dhu 
'l-Nun (He of the Fish) being a sobriquet referring to one 
of his miracles, and his father was a native of Nubia, or of 
Ikhmfm in Upper Egypt. Ibn Khallikan describes Dhu 
'l-Nun as * the nonpareil or his age ' for learning, devotion, 
communion with the Divinity (hdl), and acquaintance with 
literature (adab) ; adding that he was a philosopher [hakim) 
and spoke Arabic with elegance. The people of Egypt, 
among whom he lived, looked upon him as a zindlq (free- 
thinker), and he was brought to Baghdad to answer this 
charge, but after his death he was canonised. In the Fihrist 
he appears among "the philosophers who discoursed on 
alchemy," and Ibnu 'l-Qiftf brackets him with the famous 
occultist Jabir b. Hayy&n. He used to wander (as we learn 
from Mas'udi) 2 amidst the ruined Egyptian monuments, 
studying the inscriptions and endeavouring to decipher the 
mysterious figures which were thought to hold the key to the 

1 See 'Attar's Tadhkiratu 'l-Awliyd, ed. by Nicholson, Part I, p. 114 ; 
Jarm's Nafahdt, p. 35 ; Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 291. 

2 Muruju 'l-Dhahab, vol. ii, p. 401 seq. 



388 



MYSTICISM 



lost sciences of antiquity. He also dabbled in medicine, which, 
like Paracelsus, he combined with alchemy and magic. 

Let us see what light these facts throw upon the origin or 
the Sufi theosophy. Did it come to Egypt from India, Persia, 
or Greece ? 

Considering the time, place, and circumstances in which it 
arose, and having regard to the character of the man who bore 
the chief part in its development, we cannot 
theosopiiical hesitate, I think, to assert that it is mainly a 
product of Greek speculation. Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, 
Abu Sulayman al-Daranl, and Dhu '1-Nun al-Misrl all three 
lived and died in the period (786-861 a.d.) which begins with 
the accession of Harun al-Rashid and is terminated by the 
death of Mutawakkil. During these seventy-five years the 
stream of Hellenic culture flowed unceasingly into the Moslem 
world. Innumerable works of Greek philosophers, physicians, 
and scientists were translated and eagerly studied. Thus the 
Greeks became the teachers of the Arabs, and the wisdom of 
ancient Greece formed, as has been shown in a preceding 
chapter, the basis of Muhammadan science and philosophy. 
The results are visible in the Mu'tazilite rationalism as well as 
in the system of the Ikhwdnu '/-Safd. But it was not through 
literature alone that the Moslems were imbued with Hellenism. 
In Syria and Egypt they found themselves on its native soil, 
which yielded, we may be sure, a plentiful harvest of ideas — 
Neo-platonistic, Gnostical, Christian, mystical, pantheistic, and 
what not ? In Mesopotamia, the heart of the 'Abbasid Empire, 
dwelt a strange people, who were really Syrian heathens, but 
who towards the beginning or the ninth century assumed the 
name of Sabians in order to protect themselves from the per- 
secution with which they were threatened by the Caliph 
Ma'mun, At this time, indeed, many of them accepted 
Islam or Christianity, but the majority clung to their old 
pagan beliefs, while the educated class continued to profess a 
religious philosophy which, as it is described by Shahrastani and 



ORIGIN OF S&Ff THEOSOPHY 389 



other Muhammadan writers, is simply the Neo-platonism of 
Proclus and Iamblichus. To return to Dhu '1-Nun, it is 
incredible that a mystic and natural philosopher living in the 
first half of the ninth century in Egypt should have derived his 
doctrine directly from India. There may be Indian elements 
in Neo-platonism and Gnosticism, but this possibility does not 
affect my contention that the immediate source of the Sufi 
theosophy is to be sought in Greek and Syrian speculation. 
To define its origin more narrowly is not, I think, practicable 
in the present state of our knowledge. Merx, however, would 
trace it to Dionysius, the Pseudo-Areopagite, or rather to his 
master, a certain " Hierotheus," whom Frothingham has 
identified with the Syrian mystic, Stephen bar Sudaili {circa 
500 a.d.). Dionysius was of course a Christian Neo-platonist. 
His works certainly laid the foundations of mediaeval mysticism 
in Europe, and they were also popular in the East at the time 
when §ufiism arose. 

When speaking of the various current theories as to the 
origin of Sufiism, I said that in my opinion they all contained 

a measure of truth. No single cause will account 
pwedSSSiy f° r a phenomenon so widely spread and so diverse 
elements 1 . m * ts manifestations. Sufiism has always been 

thoroughly eclectic, absorbing and transmuting 
whatever * broken lights' fell across its path, and consequently 
it gained adherents amongst men of the most opposite views — 
theists and pantheists, Mu'tazilites and Scholastics, philosophers 
and divines. We have seen what it owed to Greece, but the 
Perso-Indian elements are hardly less important. Although 
the theory " that it must be regarded as the reaction of the 
Aryan mind against a Semitic religion imposed on it by force " 
is inadmissible — Dhu '1-Nun, for example, was a Copt or 
Nubian — the fact remains that there was at the time a powerful 
anti-Semitic reaction, which expressed itself, more or less con- 
sciously, in Sufis of Persian race. Again, the literary in- 
fluence of India upon Muhammadan thought before 1000 a.d. 



390 



MYSTICISM 



was greatly inferior to that of Greece, as any one can see 
by turning over the pages of the Fihrist ; but Indian religious 
ideas must have penetrated into Khurasan and Eastern Persia 
at a much earlier period. 

These considerations show that the question as to the origin 
of Sufiism cannot be answered in a definite and exclusive way. 
None of the rival theories is completely true, nor is any of 
them without a partial justification. The following words of 
Dr. Goldziher should be borne in mind by all who are 
interested in this subject : — 

"Sufiism cannot be looked upon as a regularly organised sect within 
Islam. Its dogmas cannot be compiled into a regular system. It 
Goldziher on the man ^ es ^ s itself in different shapes in different 

character of countries. We find divergent tendencies, according 
Sufiism. to ^ S pi r jt- f teaching of distinguished theoso- 
phists who were founders of different schools, the followers of 
which may be compared to Christian monastic orders. The influ- 
ence of different environments naturally affected the development 
of Sufiism. Here we find mysticism, there asceticism the prevailing 
thought." 1 

The four principal sources of Sufiism are undoubtedly 
Christianity, Neo-platonism, Gnosticism, and Buddhism. I 
shall not attempt in this place to estimate their comparative 
importance, but it should be clearly understood that the specu- 
lative and theosophical side of Sufiism, which, as we have seen, 
was first elaborated in Egypt and Syria, bears unmistakable 
signs of Hellenistic influence. 

There is a strong pantheistic tendency in the sayings or 
Dhu '1-Nun and his two predecessors who have been men- 
tioned, yet none of them can fairly be called a pantheist in 
the true sense. The step from theosophy to pantheism was 

1 The Influence of Buddhism upon Islam, by I. Goldziher (Budapest, 
1903). As this essay is written in Hungarian, I have not been able to con- 
sult it at first hand, but have used the excellent translation by Mr. T. 
Duka, which appeared in the J.R.AS. for January, 1904, pp. 125-141. 



bAyazid of bist Am 



391 



first openly made by a Persian, the celebrated Abu Yazid, or 
Bayazid (t 874-875 a.d.), of Bistam, a town in the province 
of Oumis situated near the south-eastern corner 
Bayazid and f tne Caspian Sea. His grandfather, Suru- 

Suli pantheism. r D ' ' 

shan, or Sharwasan, was a Zoroastrian, and his 
master in Sufiism a Kurd. The genuineness of all the 
sayings ascribed to him is not above suspicion, but they 
probably represent his character accurately enough. Bayazid 
introduced the doctrine of self-annihilation (fana) — perhaps 
a reflection of the Buddhistic Nirvana — and his language 
is tinged with the peculiar poetic imagery which was after- 
wards developed by the great Su.fi of Khurasan, Abu Sa'id 
b. Abi 'l-Khayr (t 1049 A - D -)- I can on ^7 §^ ve a ^ ew 
specimens of his sayings. They show that, if the theo- 
sophical basis of Sufiism is distinctively Greek, its pantheistic 
extravagances are no less distinctively Oriental. 

"Creatures are subject to 1 states' (ahwdl), but the gnostic has no 
'state/ because his vestiges are effaced and his essence is annihilated 
by the essence of another, and his traces are lost in another's traces. 

" I went from God to God until they cried from me in me, ' O 
Thou I!' 

" Nothing is better for Man than to be without aught, having no 
asceticism, no theory, no practice. When he is without all, he is 
with all. 

" Verily I am God, there is no God except me, so worship me ! 
" Glory to me ! how great is my majesty ! 

"I came forth from Bayazid-ness as a snake from its skin. Then 
I looked. I saw that lover, beloved, and love are one, for in the 
world of unification all can be one. 

" I am the wine-drinker and the wine and the cup-bearer." 

Thus, in the course of a century, Sufiism, which at first 
was little more than asceticism, became in succession mystical 
and theosophical, and finally advanced to extreme pantheism. 
Henceforward the term Tasawwuf unites all these varying 
shades. With the exception of Bayazid, however, the great 
Sufis of the third century a.h. (815-912 a.d.) keep the 



392 



MYSTICISM 



doctrine of fand in the background. Most of them agreed 
with Junayd of Baghdad (t 909 a.d.), the leading theosophist 
of his time, in preferring " the path of sobriety," and in seeking 
to reconcile the Law (shari'at) with the Truth (haqiqat). 
"Our principles," said Sahl b. 'Abdullah al-Tustari (t 896 
a.d.), "are six : to hold fast by the Book of God, to model 
ourselves upon the Apostle (Muhammad), to eat only what is 
lawful, to refrain from hurting people even though they hurt 
us, to avoid forbidden things, and to fulfil obligations without 
delay." To these articles the strictest Moslem might cheer- 
fully subscribe. Sufiism in its ascetic, moral, and devotional 
aspects was a spiritualised Islam, though it was a very different 
thing essentially. While doing lip-service to the established 
religion, it modified the dogmas of Islam in such a way as to 
deprive them of all significance. Thus Allah, the God of 
mercy and wrath, was depersonalised and worshipped as an 
abstract idea under the title of ' The Truth ' (Al-Haqq). 
Here the Sufis betray their kinship with the Mu'tazilites, but 
the two sects have little in common except the Greek philo- 
sophy. 1 It must never be forgotten that Sufiism was the 
expression of a profound religious feeling — "hatred of the 
world and love of the Lord." 2 " Tasawwuf" said Junayd, " is 
this : that God should make thee die from thyself and should 
make thee live in Him." 

The further development of Sufiism may be indicated in a 
few words. 

What was at first a form of religion adopted by individuals 
and communicated to a small circle of companions gradually 
became a monastic system, a school for saints, with rules 
of discipline and devotion which the novice {murla) learned 
from his spiritual director (pir or ustddh)> to whose guidance he 

1 It was recognised by the Sufis themselves that in some points their 
doctrine was apparently based on Mu'tazilite principles. See Sha'ram, 
Lawdqihu 'l-Anwdr (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 14, 1. 21 sqq. 

2 This definition is by Abu 1-Husayn al-Nuri (f 907-908 a.d.). 



DEVELOPMENT OF SttFIlSM 393 



submitted himself absolutely. Already in the third century after 
Muhammad it is increasingly evident that the typical Sufi adept 

of the future will no longer be a solitary ascetic 
The ofsdfi°ism ent shunning the sight of men, but a great Shaykh and 

hierophant, who appears on ceremonial occasions 
attended by a numerous train of admiring disciples. Soon the 
doctrine began to be collected and embodied in books. Some 
of the most notable Arabic works of reference on Sufiism have 
been mentioned already. The oldest is the Qutu 'l-Quliib, by 
Abu Talib al-Makkf, who died in 996 a.d. The twelfth 
century saw the rise of the Dervish Orders. *AdI al-Hakkar{ 
(t 1 163 a.d.) and 'Abdu '1-Qadir al-JIll (t 1166 a.d.) founded 
the fraternities which are called 'Adawis and Qadirls, after 
their respective heads. These were followed in rapid suc- 
cession by the Rifa'is, the Shadhills, and the Mevlevfs, of whom 
the last named owe their origin to the Persian poet and mystic, 
Jalalu 'l-Din Rumi (t 1273 a.d.). By this time, mainly 
through the influence of Ghazalf, Sufiism had won for itself a 
secure and recognised position in the Muhammadan Church. 
Orthodoxy was forced to accept the popular Saint-worship and 
to admit the miracles ot the Jwliyd, although many Moslem 
puritans raised their voices against the superstitious veneration 
which was paid to the tombs of holy men, and against the 
prayers, sacrifices, and oblations offered by the pilgrims who 
assembled. Ghazalf also gave the Sufi doctrine a metaphysical 
basis. For this purpose he availed himself of the terminology, 
which Farabi (also a Sufi) and Avicenna had already borrowed 
from the Neo-platonists. From his time forward we find in 
§ufi writings constant allusions to the Plotinian theories of 
emanation and ecstasy. 

Sufiism was more congenial to the Persians than to the 
Arabs, and its influence on Arabic literature is not to be 
compared with the extraordinary spell which it has cast 
over the Persian mind since the eleventh century of the 



394 



MYSTICISM 



Christian era to the present day. With few exceptions, the 
great poets of Persia (and, we may add, of Turkey) speak the 
allegorical language and use the fantastic imagery of which 
the quatrains of the Sufi pantheist, Abu Sa'id b. Abi '1-Khayr, 1 
afford almost the first literary example. The Arabs have only 
one mystical poet worthy to stand beside the Persian masters. 

This is Sharafu '1-Din 'Umar Ibnu '1-Farid, who 
i-Farid. was born in Cairo (1181 a.d.) and died there in 

1235. His Diwan was edited by his grandson 
6 AH, and the following particulars regarding the poet's life 
are extracted from the biographical notice prefixed to this 
edition 2 : — 

" The Shaykh 'Umar Ibnu '1-Farid was of middle stature ; his face 
was fair and comely, with a mingling of visible redness ; and 
when he was under the influence of music (samd') and rapture 
(wajd), and overcome by ecstasy, it grew in beauty and brilli- 
ancy, and sweat dropped from his body until it ran on the 
ground under his feet. I never saw (so his son relates) 
among Arabs or foreigners a figure equal in beauty to his, and 
I am the likest of all men to him in form. . . . And when he 
walked in the city, the people used to press round him asking his 
blessing and trying to kiss his hand, but he would not allow any one 
to do so, but put his hand in theirs. . . . 'Umar Ibnu '1-Farid said: 
' In the beginning of my detachment (tajrid) from the world I used 
to beg permission of my father and go up to the Wadi '1-Mustad'afm 
on the second mountain of al-Muqattam. Thither I would resort 
and continue in this hermit life (siydha) night and day ; then I would 
return to my father, as bound in duty to cherish his affection. My 
father was at that time Lieutenant of the High Court (khalifatu 
'l-fyukmi 'l-aziz) in Qahira and Misr, 3 the two guarded cities, and was 
one of the men most eminent for learning and affairs. He was 
wont to be glad when I returned, and he frequently let me sit with 
him in the chambers of the court and in the colleges of law. Then 
I would long for " detachment," and beg leave to return to the life of 



1 See Professor Browne's Lit. Hist, of 'Persia, vol. ii, p. 261 sqq. 

2 The Diwdn of 'Umar Ibnu 'l-Fdrid, ed. by Rushayd al-Dahdah 
(Marseilles, 1853). 

3 I.e., New and Old Cairo. 



'UMAR IBNU 'L-FARip 395 



a wandering devotee, and thus I was doing repeatedly, until my 
father was asked to fill the office of Chief Justice (Qddi 'l-Ouddt), but 
refused, and laid down the post which he held, and retired from 
society, and gave himself entirely to God in the preaching-hall 
(qd'aiu 'l-khitdba) of the Mosque al-Azhar. After his death I 
resumed my former detachment, and solitary devotion, and travel 
in the way of Truth, but no revelation was vouchsafed to me. One 
day I came to Cairo and entered the Sayfiyya College. At the gate 
I found an old grocer performing an ablution which was not 
prescribed. First he washed his hands, then his feet ; then he wiped 
his head and washed his face. " O Shaykh," I said to him, " do you, 
after all these years, stand beside the gate of the college among the 
Moslem divines and perform an irregular ablution ?" He looked at 
me and said, " O 'Umar, nothing will be vouchsafed to thee in Egypt, 
but only in the Hijaz, at Mecca (may God exalt it !) ; set out thither, 
for the time of thy illumination hath come." Then I knew that the 
man was one of God's saints and that he was disguising himself by 
his manner of livelihood and by pretending to be ignorant of the 
irregularity of the ablution. I seated myself before him and said 
to him, " O my master, how far am I from Mecca ! and I cannot find 
convoy or companions save in the months of Pilgrimage." He looked 
at me and pointed with his hand and said, " Here is Mecca in front 
of thee" ; and as I looked with him, I saw Mecca (may God exalt 
it !) ; and bidding him farewell, I set off to seek it, and it was always 
in front of me until I entered it. At that moment illumination came 
to me and continued without any interruption. ... I abode in a 
valley which was distant from Mecca ten days' journey for a hard 
rider, and every day and night I would come forth to pray the five 
prayers in the exalted Sanctuary, and with me was a wild beast of 
huge size which accompanied me in my going and returning, and 
knelt to me as a camel kneels, and said, " Mount, O my master," but 
I never did so.' " 

When fifteen years had elapsed, c Umar Ibnu '1-Farid 
returned to Cairo. The people venerated him as a saint, 
and the reigning monarch, Malik al-Kamil, wished to visit 
him in person, but 'Umar declined to see him, and rejected his 
bounty. " At most times," says the poet's son, " the Shaykh 
was in a state of bewilderment, and his eyes stared fixedly. 
He neither heard nor saw any one speaking to him. Now he 
would stand, now sit, now repose on his side, now lie on his 



396 



MYSTICISM 



back wrapped up like a dead man ; and thus would he pass 
ten consecutive days, more or less, neither eating nor drinking 
nor speaking nor stirring." In 1231 a.d. he made the 
pilgrimage to Mecca, on which occasion he met his famous 
contemporary, Shihabu' 1-DIn Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Suhrawardi. 
He died four years later, and was buried in the Qarafa 
cemetery at the foot of Mount Muqattam. 

His Dlwdn of mystical odes, which were first collected and 
published by his grandson, is small in extent compared with 

similar works in the Persian language, but of no 
ibnu°-Farid. unusual brevity when regarded as the production 

of an Arabian poet. 1 Concerning its general 
character something has been said above (p. 325). The com- 
mentator, Hasan al-Burfnf (t 1615 a.d.), praises the easy 
flow (insijdm) of the versification, and declares that Ibnu 
'1-Farid " is accustomed to play with ideas in ever-changing 
forms, and to clothe them with splendid garments." 2 His 
style, full of verbal subtleties, betrays the influence of 
Mutanabbl.3 The longest piece in the Dlwdn is a Hymn of 
Divine Love, entitled Nazmu 9 l-Suluk( c Poem on the Mystic's 
Progress '), and often called al-Tftiyyatu 'l-Kubrd ( 4 The Greater 
Ode rhyming in which has been edited with a German 
verse-translation by Hammer-Purgstall (Vienna, 1854). On 
account of this poem the author was accused of favouring the 
doctrine of hulul y i.e, 9 the incarnation of God in human beings. 
Another celebrated ode is the Khamriyya, or Hymn of Wine.4 

1 The Dlwdn, excluding the Td'tyyatu 'l-Kubrd, has been edited by 
Rushayd al-Dahdah (Marseilles, 1853). 

2 Dlwdn, p. 219, 1. 14 and p. 213, 1. 18. 

3 Ibnu 'l-Farid, like Mutanabbi, shows a marked fondness for diminu- 
tives. As he observes {Diwdn, p. 552) : — 

md qultu hubayyibi mina H-tahqiri 

bal ya'dhubu 'stnu 'l-shakhsi bi-'l-tasghiri. 

"Not in contempt I say 1 my darling.' No ! 
By 1 diminution ' names do sweeter grow." 

* Dlwdn, p. 472 sqq. A French rendering will be found at p. 41 of 
Grangeret de Lagrange's Anthologie Arabe (Paris, 1828). 



'UMAR IBNU % L-FARW 397 



The following versions will perhaps convey to English readers 
some faint impression of the fervid rapture and almost ethereal 
exaltation which give the poetry of Ibnu 'l-Fdrid a unique 
place in Arabic literature : — 

" Let passion's swelling tide my senses drown ! 
Pity love's fuel, this long-smouldering heart, 
Nor answer with a frown, 
When I would fain behold Thee as Thou art, 
' Thou shalt not see Me.' 1 O my soul, keep fast 
The pledge thou gav'st : endure unfaltering to the last ! 
For Love is life, and death in love the Heaven 
Where all sins are forgiven. 
To those before and after and of this day, 
That witnesseth my tribulation, say, 
' By me be taught, me follow, me obey, 
And tell my passion's story thro' wide East and West.' 
With my Beloved I alone have been 
When communings more sweet than evening airs 
Passed, and the Vision blest 
Was granted to my prayers, 

That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame, 
The while amazed between 
His beauty and His majesty 
I stood in silent ecstasy, 

Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came. 

Lo ! in His face commingled 

Is every charm and grace ; 

The whole of Beauty singled 

Into a perfect face 

Beholding Him would cry, 

' There is no God but He, and He is the most High ! "' 2 

Here are the opening verses of the Taiyyatu y l-Sughra y or 
'The Lesser Ode rhyming in which is so called in order to 
distinguish it from the TcCiyyatu U-Kubrd : — 

" Yea, in me the Zephyr kindled longing, O my loves, for you ; 
Sweetly breathed the balmy Zephyr, scattering odours when it 
blew ; 



1 The words of God to Moses (Kor. vii, 139). 3 Dtwdn, p. 257 sqq. 



398 



MYSTICISM 



Whispering to my heart at morning secret tales of those who 
dwell 

(How my fainting heart it gladdened !) nigh the water and the 
well ; 

Murmuring in the grassy meadows, garmented with gentleness, 
Languid love-sick airs diffusing, healing me of my distress. 
When the green slopes wave before thee, Zephyr, in my loved 
Hijaz, 

Thou, not wine that mads the others, art my rapture's only 
cause. 

Thou the covenant eternal 1 callest back into my mind, 
For but newly thou hast parted from my dear ones, happy 
Wind ! 

Driver of the dun-red camels that amidst acacias bide, 
Soft and sofa-like thy saddle from the long and weary ride ! 
Blessings on thee, if descrying far-off Tudih at noon-day, 
Thou wilt cross the desert hollows where the fawns of Wajra 
play, 

And if from 'Urayd's sand-hillocks bordering on stony ground 
Thou wilt turn aside to Huzwa, driver for Suwayqa bound, 
And Tuwayli"s willows leaving, if to Sal' thou thence wilt ride — 
Ask, I pray thee, of a people dwelling on the mountain-side ! 
Halt among the clan I cherish (so may health attend thee still !) 
And deliver there my greeting to the Arabs of the hill. 
For the tents are basking yonder, and in one of them is She 
That bestows the meeting sparely, but the parting lavishly. 
Spears and arrows make the rampart of her maiden puissance, 
Yet my glances stray towards her when on me she deigns to 
glance. 

Girt about with double raiment — soul and heart of mine, no 
less — 

She is guarded from beholders, veiled by her unveiledness. 
Death to me, in giving loose to my desire, she destineth ; 
Ah, how goodly seems the bargain, and how cheap is Love for 
Death ! 2 

Ibnu 'l-Farid came or pure Arab stock, and his poetry 
is thoroughly Arabian both in form and spirit. This is not 

1 This refers to Kor. vii, 171. God drew forth from the loins of Adam 
all future generations of men and addressed them, saying, " Am not I your 
Lord?" They answered, "Yes," and thus, according to the Sufi inter- 
pretation, pledged themselves to love God for evermore. 

2 Diwdn, p. 142 sqq. 



MUHIYYU 'L-D/N IBNU 'L-'ARABI 399 

the place to speak of the great Persian Sufis, but Husayn 
b. Mansur al-Hallaj, a wild antinomian pantheist who was 
executed in the Caliphate of Muqtadir (922 a.d.), could not 
have been altogether omitted but for the fact that Professor 
Browne has already given a most admirable account of him, 
to which I am unable to add anything of importance. 1 
The Arabs, however, have contributed to the history of 
Sufiism another memorable name — Muhiyyu '1-Din Ibnu 
'l-'Arabi, whose life falls within the final century of the 
'Abbasid period, and will therefore fitly conclude the present 
chapter. 2 

Muhiyyu '1-Dm Muhammad b. 'AH Ibnu VAraM (or Ibn 
'Arab!) 3 was born at Mursiya (Murcia) in Spain on the 17th 
of Ramadan, 560 a.h. = Tuiy 29, 11 65 a.d. 

Ibnu 'l-'Arabi. , J .. 7 , . „ 

rrom 1173 to 1202 he resided in beville. He 
then set out for the East, travelling by way of Egypt to the 
Hijaz, where he stayed a long time, and after visiting Baghdad, 
Mosul, and Asia Minor, finally settled at Damascus, in which 
city he died (638 a.h. = 1240 a.d.). His tomb below Mount 
Qasiyun was thought to be " a piece of the gardens of 
Paradise," and was called the Philosophers' Stone.4 It is 
now enclosed in a mosque which bears the name of 
Muhiyyu l-Dm, and a cupola rises over it.5 We know hardly 
anything concerning the events of his life, which seems to 
have been passed in quiet meditation and in the composition 

1 See A Literary History of Persia, vol. i, p. 428 sqq. 

2 The best known biography of Ibnu 'l-'Arabi occurs in Maqqari's 
Nafhu 'l-Tib, ed. by Dozy and others, vol. i, pp. 567-583. Much additional 
information is contained in a lengthy article, which I have extracted from 
a valuable MS. in my collection, the Shadhardtu 'l-Dhahab, and published 
in the J.R.A.S. for 1906, pp. 806-824. Cf. also Von Kremer's Herrschende 
Ideeii, pp. 102-109. 

3 Muhiyyu '1-Din means ' Reviver of Religion.' In the West he was 
called Ibnu 'l-'Arabi, but the Moslems of the East left out the definite 
article (al) in order to distinguish him from the Cadi Abu Bakr Ibnu 
'l-'Arabi of Seville (f 1151 a.d.). 

4 Al-Kibrit al-ahmar (literally, 1 the red sulphur '). 
s See Von Kremer, op. cit, p. 108 seq. 



40o 



MYSTICISM 



of his voluminous writings, more than two hundred and fifty 

in number according to his own computation. Two of these 

works are especially celebrated, and have caused Ibnu 'l-'AraM 

to be regarded as the greatest of all Muhammadan mystics — 

the Futuhdt al-Makkiyya, or c Meccan Revelations,' and the 

Fususu U-Hikam^ or * Bezels of Philosophy.' The Futuhdt is 

a huge treatise in five hundred and sixty chapters, containing a 

complete system of mystical science. The author relates that 

he saw Muhammad in the World of Real Ideas, seated on a 

throne amidst angels, prophets, and saints, and received his 

command to discourse on the Divine mysteries. At another 

time, while circumambulating the Ka'ba, he met a celestial 

spirit wearing the form of a youth engaged in the same holy 

rite, who showed him the living esoteric Temple which is 

concealed under the lifeless exterior, even as the eternal 

substance of the Divine Ideas is hidden by the veils of popular 

religion — veils through which the lofty mind must penetrate, 

until, having reached the splendour within, it partakes of the 

Divine character and beholds what no mortal eye can endure 

to look upon. Ibnu 'l-'Arabi immediately fell into a swoon. 

When he came to himself he was instructed to contemplate 

the visionary form and to write down the mysteries which it 

would reveal to his gaze. Then the youth entered the Ka'ba 

with Ibnu 'l-'Arabi', and resuming his spiritual aspect, appeared 

to him on a three-legged steed, breathed into his breast the 

knowledge of all things, and once more bade him describe the 

heavenly form in which all mysteries are enshrined. 1 Such is 

the reputed origin of the ' Meccan Revelations,' of which the 

greater portion was written in the town where inspiration 

descended on Muhammad six hundred years before. The 

author believed, or pretended to believe, that every word 

of them was dictated to him by supernatural means. The 

1 The above particulars are derived from an abstract of the Futuhdt 
made by 'Abdu 'l-Wahhab al-Sha'rani (f 1565 a.d.), of which Fleischer has 
given a full description in the Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Leipzig 
Univ. Library (1838), pp. 490-495. 



MUHIYYU 'L-DfN IBNU *L* l ARABf 401 



Fusiis, a short work in twenty-seven chapters, each of which 
is named after one of the prophets, is no less highly esteemed, 
and has been the subject of numerous commentaries in Arabic, 
Persian, and Turkish. 

We cannot here attempt to summarise the abstruse, fantastic, 
and interminable speculations which Ibnu 'l-'Arabi presents to 
his readers in the guise of Heavenly Truth, nor would it be 
easy to sketch even the outlines of his theosophical system 
until the copious materials at our disposal have been more 
thoroughly studied by some European scholar interested in 
Sufiism. The following sayings and verses may be taken as 
samples : — 

" Prayer (du'd) is the marrow of devotion. As the marrow gives 
strength to the limbs, so the devotion of devotees is strengthened 
by prayer. 

" The Sufi is he that drops the three is,, saying neither ' to me ' (It) 
nor ' beside me ' (Hndi) nor ' my property' (matd'i), that is, he does 
not attribute anything to himself. 

" It is no fault in the gnostic to say to his disciple, 1 Receive this 
knowledge which you will not find in any one except me,' and 
to use like terms of self-glorification, because his intention is to 
encourage the pupil to learn. 

" When a man is truly grounded in Unification (tawhid), every false 
pretence, such as hypocrisy and conceit, departs from him, for he 
feels that all praiseworthy qualities belong to God, not to himself. 

" Do not let doubt enter into the mysteries of theosophy : its place 
is only in the speculative sciences. 

" The whole sect (of Sufis) are agreed that knowledge of God is 
utter ignorance of Him. 

" I know the greatest name of God and I know the Philosophers' 
Stone (al-Kimiyd)." 

" O Pearl Divine, white Pearl that in a shell 
Of dark mortality art made to dwell ! 
Alas, while common gems we prize and hoard, 
Thy worth inestimable is still ignored ! " 1 



1 Maqqari, vol. i, p. 570, 1. 7. 
27 



402 



MYSTICISM 



" My heart is capable of every form : 
A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols, 
A pasture for gazelles, the votary's Ka'ba, 
The tables of the Torah, the Koran. 
Love is the creed I hold : wherever turn 
His camels, Love is still my creed and faith." 1 

Curiously enough, Ibnu 'l-'Arabl combined the most extrava- 
gant mysticism with the straitest orthodoxy. "He was a 
Zahirite (literalist) in his devotions and a Batinite (spiritualist) 
in his beliefs." 2 He rejected all authority (taqlld). "I am 
not one of those who say, ' Ibn Hazm said so-and-so, Ahmad 3 
said so-and-so, al-Nu'man 4 said so-and-so,' " he declares in 
one of his poems. But although he insisted on punctilious 
observance of the sacred law, we may suspect that his 
refusal to follow any human authority, analogy, or opinion 
was simply the overweening presumption of the seer who 
regards himself as divinely illuminated and infallible. Many 
theologians were scandalised by the apparently blasphemous 
expressions which occur in his writings, and taxed him 
with holding heretical doctrines, e.g.^ the incarnation oi God 
in man (hulul) and the identification of man with God 
(ittihdd). Centuries passed, but controversy continued to 
rage over him. He found numerous and enthusiastic partisans, 
who urged that the utterances of the saints must not be inter- 
preted literally nor criticised at all. It was recognised, how- 
ever, that such high mysteries were unsuitable for the weaker 
brethren, so that many even of those who firmly believed in 
his sanctity discouraged the reading of his books. They were 
read nevertheless, publicly and privately, from one end of the 
Muhammadan world to the other ; people copied them for the 
sake of obtaining the author's blessing, and the manuscripts 
were eagerly bought. Among the distinguished men who 

1 These lines are quoted by 'Abdu '1-Ghani al-Nabulusi in his Com- 
mentary on the Td'iyyatu 'l-Kubrd of Ibnu '1-Farid (MS. in the British 
Museum, 7564 Rich.). 

2 Maqqari, i, 569, 11. 3 Ahmad b. ^anbal. 4 Abu ^am'fa. 



MUHIYYU >L-DtN IBNU ^L-ARABI 403 



wrote in his defence we can mention here only Majdu '1-Din 
al-Flruzabadi (t 1414 a.d.), the author of the great Arabic 
lexicon entitled al-Qamus ; Jalalu 'l-Din al-Suyuti (t 1445 
a.d.); and 'Abdu '1-Wahhab al-Sha'ram (t 1565 a.d.). From 
the last-named we learn that Ibnu 'l-'Arabfs opponents 
accused him of having asserted 1 — 

(a) That the Muhammadan confession of faith, " There is 
no god except God " (Id ilaha ilia 'llahu), is mischievous. 

(b) That nothing exists except God. 

(c) That Pharaoh was a true believer. 

(d) That the saint is superior to the apostle. 

Sadru '1-Din of Qonya (t 1273 A - D -)) a famous pupil or 
Ibnu 'l-'Arabi, is reported to have said : " Our Shaykh, 
Ibnu 'l-'Arabf, had the power of uniting himself with the 
spirit of any of the Prophets or Saints of old, in three 
ways : if God willed, he drew down the spirituality of the 
holy personage into this world and possessed him corporeally 
in an ideal form, resembling the sensible and temporal form 
which he had in life ; or if God willed, he summoned him to 
His presence during sleep ; or if God willed, he became 
disembodied and united himself with Him." 2 

Ibnu 'l-'Arabi appears to have set his face against the extreme 
pantheistic tendencies which characterise Persian Sufiism. With 
all his marvellous visions and revelations, his prophetic enthu- 
siasm, and a luxuriant fancy which delighted in Pythagorean 
theories of numbers and letters, he did not allow himself to 
forget that the human and Divine natures are essentially 
different : even Muhammad, as he points out, remained at 
two bow-lengths' distance from God.3 The true union is 

1 Yawdqit (Cairo, 1277 A.H.), p. 15 seq. 

2 J.R.A.S. for 1906, p. 816. 

3 On the occasion of the Prophet's Night-Journey to Heaven (which is 
called by Moslems his Mi'rdj, or ' Ascension ') " he approached and drew nigh 
until he was at the distance of two bow-lengths or nearer" (Kor. liii, 8-9). 
These words in their original context do not refer to Muhammad, although 
they are frequently applied to him by Sufi writers. 



404 



MYSTICISM 



one of will, not of essence. He illustrates this by the 
following apologue : — 

"A diver essayed to bring to shore the red jacinth of Deity hidden 
in its resplendent shell, but he emerged from that ocean empty- 
handed, with broken arms, blind, dumb, and dazed. When he 
regained his breath and when his senses were no longer obscured, 
he was asked, " What hath disturbed thee, and what is this thing 
that hath befallen thee ? " He answered, " Far is that which ye 
seek ! Remote is that which ye desire ! None ever attained unto 
God, and neither spirit nor body conceived the knowledge of Him. 
He is the Glorious One who is never reached, the Being who 
possesses but is not possessed. Inasmuch as before His attributes 
the mind is distraught and the reason totters, how can they attain to 
His very essence ?" 1 

As I have said, however, it would be rash to make positive 
statements regarding Ibnu 'l-'Arabfs theosophy without more 
evidence than is yet available. His true character is equally 
in suspense. Perhaps he was a charlatan to some extent, but 
the genuineness of his enthusiasm cannot, I think, be ques- 
tioned. The title of ' The Grand Master ' (al-Shaykh 
al-Akbar\ by which he is commonly designated, bears witness 
to his acknowledged supremacy in the world of Arabian 
mysticism. In Persia and Turkey his influence has been 
enormous, and through his pupil, §adru 'l-Di'n of Qonya, 
he is linked with the greatest of all Sufi poets, Jalalu 'l-Dm 
Rumf, the author of the Mathnawi^ who died some thirty 
years after him. 



1 See Fleischer, op. cit., p. 493. 



CHAPTER IX 



THE ARABS IN EUROPE 

It will be remembered that before the end of the first century 
of the Hijra, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, Walid b. 
c Abd al-Malik (705-715 a.d.), the Moslems under Tdriq 
and Musd b. Nusayr, crossed the Mediterranean, and having 
defeated Roderic the Goth in a great battle near Cadiz, 
rapidly brought the whole of Spain into subjection. The 
fate of the new province was long doubtful. The Berber 
insurrection which raged in Africa (734-742 a.d.) spread to 
Spain and threatened to exterminate the handful of Arab 
colonists ; and no sooner was this danger past than the 
victors began to rekindle the old feuds and jealousies which 
they had inherited from their ancestors of Qays and Kalb. 
Once more the rival factions of Syria and Yemen flew to 
arms, and the land was plunged in anarchy. 

Meanwhile 'Abdu 'l-Rahmdn b. Mu'&wiya, a grandson ot 
the Caliph Hish&m, had escaped from the general massacre 
with which the 'Abbasids celebrated their triumph 
'l-Rahman, the over the House of Umayya, and after five years 

Umayyad. ^ wandering adventure, accompanied only by 
his faithful freedman, Badr, had reached the neighbourhood 
of Ceuta, where he found a precarious shelter with the 
Berber tribes. Young, ambitious, and full of confidence in 
his destiny, 'Abdu 'l-Rahman conceived the bold plan of 

405 



406 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



throwing himself into Spain and of winning a kingdom 
with the help of the Arabs, amongst whom, as he well 
knew, there were many clients of his own family. Accord- 
ingly in 755 a.d. he sent Badr across the sea on a secret 
mission. The envoy accomplished even more than was 
expected of him. To gain over the clients was easy, for 
€ Abdu 'l-Rahman was their natural chief, and in the event 
of his success they would share with him the prize. Their 
number, however, was comparatively small. The pretender 
could not hope to achieve anything unless he were supported 
by one of the great parties, Syrians or Yemenites. At this 
time the former, led by the feeble governor, Yusuf b. 
*Abd al-Rahman al-Fihrl, and his cruel but capable lieutenant, 
Sumayl b. Hatim, held the reins of power and were pursuing 
their adversaries with ruthless ferocity. The Yemenites, 
therefore, hastened to range themselves on the side of 'Abdu 
'l-Rahman, not that they loved his cause, but inspired solely 
by the prospect of taking a bloody vengeance upon the 
Syrians. These Spanish Moslems belonged to the true 
Bedouin stock ! 

A few months later 'Abdu 'l-Rahman landed in Spain, 
occupied Seville, and, routing Yusuf and Sumayl under the 
walls of Cordova, made himself master of the capital. On 
the same evening he presided, as Governor of Spain, over 
the citizens assembled for public worship in the great Mosque 
(May, 756 a.d.). 

During his long reign of thirty-two years c Abdu 'l-Rahman 
was busily employed in defending and consolidating the empire 
which more than once seemed to be on the point of slipping 
from his grasp. The task before him was arduous in the 
extreme. On the one hand, he was confronted by the 
unruly Arab aristocracy, jealous of their independence and 
regarding the monarch as their common foe. Between him 
and them no permanent compromise was possible, and since 
they could only be kept in check by an armed force stronger 



'ABDU *L-RAHMAN THE UMAYYAD 407 



than themselves, he was compelled to rely on mercenaries, 
for the most part Berbers imported from Africa. Thus, by 
a fatal necessity the Moslem Empire in the West gradually 
assumed that despotic and Praetorian character which we have 
learned to associate with the 'Abbasid Government in the 
period of its decline, and the results were in the end hardly 
less disastrous. The monarchy had also to reckon with the 
fanaticism of its Christian subjects and with a formidable 
Spanish national party eager to throw off the foreign yoke. 
Extraordinary energy and tact were needed to maintain 
authority over these explosive elements, and if the dynasty 
founded by *Abdu 'l-Rahman not only survived for two 
centuries and a half but gave to Spain a more splendid era 
of prosperity and culture than she had ever enjoyed, the 
credit is mainly due to the bold adventurer from whom even 
his enemies could not withhold a tribute of admiration. One 
day, it is said, the Caliph Mansur asked his courtiers, " Who 
is the Falcon of Quraysh ? " They replied, " O Prince ot 
the Faithful, that title belongs to you who have vanquished 
mighty kings and have put an end to civil war." "No," said 
the Caliph, "it is not I." "Mu'awiya, then, or c Abdu 
'1-Malik I" "No," said Mansur, "the Falcon of Quraysh is 
'Abdu 'l-Rahman b. Mu'awiya, he who traversed alone the 
deserts of Asia and Africa, and without an army to aid him 
sought his fortune in an unknown country beyond the sea. 
With no weapons except judgment and resolution he subdued 
his enemies, crushed the rebels, secured his frontiers, and 
founded a great empire. Such a feat was never achieved 
by any one before." 1 

Of the Moslems in Spain the Arabs rormed only a small 
minority, and they, moreover, showed all the indifference 
towards religion and contempt for the laws of Islam 

1 Abridged from Ibnu 'l-'Idhari, al-Baydn al-Mughrib, ed. by Dozy, 
vol. ii, p. 61 seq. 



408 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



which might be expected from men imbued with Bedouin 
traditions whose forbears had been devotedly attached to the 
world-loving Umayyads of Damascus. It was otherwise with 

the Spanish converts, the so-called ' Renegades ' 
ls ipSn m or Muwalladun (Affiliati) living as clients under 

protection of the Arab nobility, and with the 
Berbers. These races took their adopted religion very 
seriously, in accordance with the fervid and sombre tempera- 
ment which has always distinguished them. Hence among 
the mass of Spanish Moslems a rigorous orthodoxy prevailed. 
The Berber, Yahya" b. Yahyd (t 849 a.d.), is a typical figure. 

Yahya b Yahya ^ ^ a & e °^ twent y- e ig nt years he travelled to the 
East and studied under Malik, b Anas, who dictated 
to him his celebrated work known as the Muuuatja\ Yahya" 
was one day at Malik's lecture with a number of fellow- 
students, when some one said, " Here comes the elephant ! 99 
All of them ran out to see the animal, but Yahya did not stir. 
" Why," said Malik, u do vou not go out and look at it ? 
Such animals are not to be seen in Spain." To this Yahyi 
replied, " I left my country for the purpose of seeing you 
and obtaining knowledge under your guidance. I did not 
come here to see the elephant." Malik was so pleased 
with this answer that he called him the most intelligent 
('aqil) of the people of Spain. On his return to Spain 
Yahyd exerted himself to spread the doctrines of his 
master, and though he obstinately refused, on religious 
grounds, to accept any public office, his influence and 
reputation were such that, as Ibn Hazm says, no Cadi was ever 
appointed till Yahyd had given his opinion and designated 
the person whom he preferred. 1 Thus the Mdlikite system, 
based on close adherence to tradition, became the law of the 
land. " The Spaniards," it is observed by a learned writer or 
the tenth century, "recognise only the Koran and the 

1 Ibn Khallikan, ed. by Wustenfeld, No. 802 ; De Slane's translation, 
vol. iv, p. 29 sqq. 



BIGOTRY OF THE MOSLEM CLERGY 409 



Muwatta* ; if they find a follower of Abu Hani'fa or Shdfi'l, 
they banish him from Spain, and if they meet with a 
Mu'tazilite or a ShNte or any one of that sort, they often put 
him to death." 1 Arrogant, intensely bigoted, and ambitious 
of power, the Muhammadan clergy were not disposed to play 
a subordinate role in the State. In Hish&m (788-796 a.d.), 
the successor of 'Abdu 'l-Rahm&n, they had a prince after their 
own heart, whose piety and devotion to their interests left 
nothing to be desired. Hakam (796-822 a.d.) was less com- 
plaisant. He honoured and respected the clergy, but at the 
same time he let them see that he would not permit them to 
interfere in political affairs. The malcontents, headed by the 
fiery Yahya b. Yahya, replied with menaces and insults, and 
called on the populace of Cordova — especially the 'Renegades' 
in the southern quarter {rabad) of the city — to rise against 
the tyrant and his insolent soldiery. One day in Ramadan, 
198 a.h. (May, 814 a.d.), Hakam suddenly found himself cut 
off from the garrison and besieged in his palace by an infuriated 
mob, but he did not lose courage, and, thanks to his coolness 

and skilful strategy, he came safely out of the 
T the!£b 0f P eril in which he stood. The revolutionary 

suburb was burned to the ground and those 
of its inhabitants who escaped massacre, some 60,000 souls, 
were driven into exile. The real culprits went unpunished. 
Hakam could not afford further to exasperate the divines, who 
on their part began to perceive that they might obtain from 
the prince by favour what they had failed to wring from him 
by force. Being mostly Arabs or Berbers, they had a strong 
claim to his consideration. Their power was soon restored, 
and in the reign of 'Abdu '1-Rahman II (822-852 a.d.) 
Yahya himself, the ringleader of the mutiny, directed 
ecclesiastical policy and dispensed judicial patronage as he 
pleased. 

1 Muqaddasi (ed. by De Goeje), p. 236, cited by Goldziher, Die Zdhiriten 
p. 114. 



4io THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



The Revolt of the Suburb was only an episode in the long 
and sanguinary struggle between the Spaniards, Moslem or 
Christian, on the one hand, and the monarchy of Cordova on 
the other — a struggle complicated by the rival Arab tribes, 
which sometimes patched up their own feuds in order to 
defend themselves against the Spanish patriots, but never in 
any circumstances gave their support to the detested Umayyad 

Government. The hero of this war of inde- 
Uma sun.^ af pendence was 'Umar b. Hafsun. He belonged to 

a noble family of West-Gothic origin which had 
gone over to Islam and settled in the mountainous district 
north-east of Malaga. Hot-blooded, quarrelsome, and ready 
to stab on the slightest provocation, the young man soon fell 
into trouble. At first he took shelter in the wild fastnesses 
of Ronda, where he lived as a brigand until he was captured 
by the police. He then crossed the sea to Africa, but in 
a short time returned to his old haunts and put himself at 
the head of a band of robbers. Here he held out for two 
years, when, having been obliged to surrender, he accepted the 
proposal of the Sultan of Cordova that he and his companions 
should enlist in the Imperial army. But 'Umar was 
destined for greater glory than the Sultan could confer upon 
him. A few contemptuous words from a superior officer 
touched his pride to the quick, so one fine day he galloped 
off with all his men in the direction of Ronda. They found 
an almost impregnable retreat in the castle of Bobastro, which 
had once been a Roman fortress. From this moment, says 
Dozy, 'Umar b. Hafsun was no longer a brigand-chief, but 
leader of the whole Spanish race in the south. The lawless 
and petulant free-lance was transformed into a high-minded 
patriot, celebrated for the stern justice with which he punished 
the least act of violence, adored by his soldiers, and regarded 
by his countrymen as the champion of the national cause. 
During the rest of his life (884-917 a.d.) he conducted the 
guerilla with untiring energy and made himself a terror to the 



'ABDU 'L-RAHMAN III 411 



Arabs, but fortune deserted him at the last, and he died — 
feltx opportunttate mortis — only a few years before complete ruin 
overtook his party. The Moslem Spaniards, whose enthusiasm 
had been sensibly weakened by their leader's conversion to 
Christianity, were the more anxious to make their peace with 
the Government, since they saw plainly the hopelessness of 
continuing the struggle. 

In 912 a.d. 'Abdu '1- Rahman III, the Defender of the 
Faith {al-Ndsir li-dini Hlah\ succeeded his grandfather, the 
Amrr 'Abdullah, on the throne of Cordova. The character, 
genius, and enterprise of this great monarch are strikingly 
depicted in the following passage from the pen of an eloquent 
historian whose work, although it was published some fifty 
years ago, will always be authoritative 1 :— - 

"Amongst the Umayyad sovereigns who have ruled Spain the 
first place belongs incontestably to 'Abdu '1-Rahman III. What he 

'Abdu 1 Rah accomplished was almost miraculous. He had found 
man in ' the empire abandoned to anarchy and civil war, rent 

(912-961 a.d.). by f ac tions, parcelled amongst a multitude of hetero- 
geneous princes, exposed to incessant attacks from the Christians of 
the north, and on the eve of being swallowed up either by the 
Leonnese or the Africans. In spite of innumerable obstacles he 
had saved Spain both from herself and from the foreign domination. 
He had endowed her with new life and made her greater and 
stronger than she had ever been. He had given her order and 
prosperity at home, consideration and respect abroad. The public 
treasury, which he had found in a deplorable condition, was now 
overflowing. Of the Imperial revenues, which amounted annually 
to 6,245,000 pieces of gold, a third sufficed for ordinary expenses ; 
a third was held in reserve, and 'Abdu '1-Rahman devoted the 
remainder to his buildings. It was calculated that in the year 951 
he had in his coffers the enormous sum of 20,000,000 pieces of gold, 
so that a traveller not without judgment in matters of finance 
assures us that 'Abdu '1-Rahman and the Hamdanid (Nasiru 
'1-Dawla), who was then reigning over Mesopotamia, were the 
wealthiest princes of that epoch. The state of the country was in 



1 Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne (Leyden, 1861), vol. iii, 
p. 90 sqq. 



412 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



keeping with the prosperous condition of the treasury. Agriculture, 
industry, commerce, the arts and the sciences, all flourished. . . . 
Cordova, with its half-million inhabitants, its three thousand mosques, 
its superb palaces, its hundred and thirteen thousand houses, its 
three hundred bagnios, and its twenty-eight suburbs, was inferior in 
extent and splendour only to Baghdad, with which city the Cordo- 
vans loved to compare it. . . . The power of 'Abdu '1- Rahman was 
formidable. A magnificent fleet enabled him to dispute with the 
Fatimids the empire of the Mediterranean, and secured him in the 
possession of Ceuta, the key of Mauritania. A numerous and well- 
disciplined army, perhaps the finest in the world, gave him superi- 
ority over the Christians of the north. The proudest sovereigns 
solicited his alliance. The emperor of Constantinople, the kings of 
Germany, Italy, and France sent ambassadors to him. 

M Assuredly, these were brilliant results ; but what excites our 
astonishment and admiration when we study this glorious reign is 
not so much the work as the workman : it is the might of that com- 
prehensive intelligence which nothing escaped, and which showed 
itself no less admirable in the minutest details than in the loftiest 
conceptions. This subtle and sagacious man, who centralises, who 
founds the unity of the nation and of the monarchy, who by means 
of his alliances establishes a sort of political equilibrium, who in his 
large tolerance calls the professors of another religion into his 
councils, is a modern king rather than a mediaeval Caliph." 1 

In short, 'Abdu 'l-Rahmdn III made the Spanish Moslems 
one people, and formed out of Arabs and Spaniards a united 
Andalusian nation, which, as we shall presently see, advanced 
with incredible swiftness to a height of culture that was the 
envy of Europe and was not exceeded by any contemporary 
State in the Muhammadan East. With his death, however, the 
decline of the Umayyad dynasty began. His son, Hakam II 
(t 976 a.d.), left as heir-apparent a boy eleven years old, 
Hisham II, who received the title of Caliph while the govern- 
Regency of men t was carried on by his mother Aurora and 
MansuribnAbi tne ambitious minister Muhammad b. Abi 'Amir. 

Amir 

(976-1002 a.d.). The latter was virtually monarch of Spain, and 
whatever may be thought of the means by which he rose to 
eminence, or of his treatment of the unfortunate Caliph whose 
1 'Abdu '1-Rahman III was the first of his line to assume this title. 



MANS&R IBN ABt l AMIR 



4i3 



mental faculties he deliberately stunted and whom he con- 
demned to a life of monkish seclusion, it is impossible to deny- 
that he ruled well and nobly. He was a great statesman and 
a great soldier. No one could accuse him of making an 
idle boast when he named himself c Al-Mansur * ( c The 
Victorious'). Twice every year he was accustomed to lead 
his army against the Christians, and such was the panic which 
he inspired that in the course of more than fifty campaigns 
he scarcely ever lost a battle. He died in 1002 a.d. A 
Christian monk, recording the event in his chronicle, adds, 
"he was buried in Hell," but Moslem hands engraved the 
following lines upon the tomb of their champion : — 

" His story in his relics you may trace, 
As tho' he stood before you face to face. 
Never will Time bring forth his peer again, 
Nor one to guard, like him, the gaps of Spain." 1 

His demise left the Praetorians masters of the situation. 
Berbers and Slaves 2 divided the kingdom between them, and 

1 Maqqan, vol. i, p. 259. As Maqqari's work is our principal authority 
for the literary history of Moslem Spain, I may conveniently give 
some account of it in this place. The author, Ahmad b. Muhammad 
al-Tilimsani al-Maqqari (f 1632 a.d.) wrote a biography of Ibnu '1-Khah'b, 
the famous Vizier of Granada, to which he prefixed a long and discursive 
introduction in eight chapters : (1) Description of Spain ; (2) Conquest of 
Spain by the Arabs ; (3) History of the Spanish dynasties ; (4) Cordova ; 
(5) Spanish-Arabian scholars who travelled in the East ; (6) Orientals who 
visited Spain ; (7) Miscellaneous extracts, anecdotes, poetical citations, &c., 
bearing on the literary history of Spain ; (8) Reconquest of Spain by the 
Christians and expulsion of the Arabs. The whole work is entitled 
Najhu 'l-Tib min ghusni 'l-Andalusi 'l-ratlb wa-dhikri wazirihd Lisdni 
'l-Dln Ibni 'l-Khatib. The introduction, which contains a fund of 
curious and valuable information — " a library in little " — has been edited 
by Dozy and other European Arabists under the title of Analedes sur 
VHistoire et la Litteraturc des Arabes d'Espagne (Leyden, 1855-1861). 

3 The name of Slaves (Saqdliba) was originally applied to prisoners of 
war, belonging to various northern races, who were sold to the Arabs of 
Spain, but the term was soon widened so as to include all foreign slaves 
serving in the harem or the army, without regard to their nationality. Like 
the Mamelukes and Janissaries, they formed a privileged corps under the 



414 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



amidst revolution and civil war the Umayyad dynasty passed 
away (1031 a.d.). 

It has been said with truth that the history of Spain in the 
eleventh century bears a close resemblance to that of Italy in 
the fifteenth. The splendid empire of 'Abdu 'l-Rahman III 
was broken up, and from its ruins there emerged a fortui- 
tous conglomeration of petty states governed by successful 
/ / condottieri. Of these Party Kings (Muluku 

The Party Kings 3 to \ 

'ifawd% /-T#W« if\ as they are called by Muhammadan 
writers, the most powerful were the 'Abbadids of 
Seville. Although it was an age of political decay, the 
material prosperity of Spain had as yet suffered little diminu- 
tion, whilst in point of culture the society of this time reached 
a level hitherto unequalled. Here, then, we may pause for a 
moment to review the progress of literature and science 
during the most fruitful period or the Moslem occupation 
of European soil. 

Whilst in Asia, as we have seen, the Arab conquerors 
yielded to the spell of an ancient culture infinitely superior to 
their own, they no sooner crossed the Straits of 
A^bfccuuSfe Gibraltar than the roles were reversed. As the 
Spaniards. invaders extended their conquests to every part of 
the peninsula, thousands of Christians fell into their 
hands, who generally continued to live under Moslem protection. 
They were well treated by the Government, enjoyed religious 
liberty, and often rose to high offices in the army or at court. 
Many of them became rapidly imbued with Moslem civilisa- 
tion, so that as early as the middle of the ninth century we find 
Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, complaining that his co-religionists 
read the poems and romances of the Arabs, and studied the 
writings of Muhammadan theologians and philosophers, not in 

patronage of the palace, and since the reign of 'Abdu 1- Rahman III their 
number and influence had steadily increased, Cf. Dozy, Hist, des Mus. 
d'Espagne, vol. iii, p. 58 sqq. 



INFLUENCE OF ARABIC CULTURE 415 



order to refute them but to learn how to express themselves in 
Arabic with correctness and elegance. " Where," he asks, 
" can any one meet nowadays with a layman who reads the 
Latin commentaries on the Holy Scriptures ? Who studies 
the Gospels, the Prophets, the Apostles? Alas, all young 
Christians of conspicuous talents are acquainted only with the 
language and writings of the Arabs ; they read and study 
Arabic books with the utmost zeal, spend immense sums or 
money in collecting them for their libraries, and proclaim 
everywhere that this literature is admirable. On the other 
hand, if you talk with them of Christian books, they reply 
contemptuously that these books are not worth their notice. 
Alas, the Christians have forgotten their own language, and 
amongst thousands of us scarce one is to be found who can 
write a tolerable Latin letter to a friend ; whereas very many 
are capable of expressing themselves exquisitely in Arabic and 
of composing poems in that tongue with even greater skill than 
the Arabs themselves." 1 

However the good bishop may have exaggerated, it is 
evident that Muhammadan culture had a strong attraction 
for the Spanish Christians, and equally, let us add, for the 
Jews, who made numerous contributions to poetry, philosophy, 
and science in their native speech as well as in the kindred 
Arabic idiom. The 6 Renegades,' or Spanish converts to 
Islam, became completely Arabicised in the course of a few 
generations ; and from this class sprang some of the chief 
ornaments of Spanish-Arabian literature. 

Considered as a whole, the poetry of the Moslems in 
Europe shows the same characteristics which have already 
been noted in the work of their Eastern contem- 
of the ' poraries. The paralysing conventions from which 
the laureates of Baghdad and Aleppo could not 
emancipate themselves remained in full force at Cordova and 
1 Dozy, op, cit., vol. ii, p. 103 seq. 



4X6 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



Seville. Yet, just as Arabic poetry in the East was modified 
by the influences of Persian culture, in Spain also the gradual 
amalgamation of Aryans with Semites introduced new 
elements which have left their mark on the literature of both 
races. Perhaps the most interesting features of Spanish-Arabian 
poetry are the tenderly romantic feeling which not infre- 
quently appears in the love-songs, a feeling that sometimes 
anticipates the attitude of mediaeval chivalry ; and in the 
second place an almost modern sensibility to the beauties of 
nature. On account of these characteristics the poems in 
question appeal to many European readers who do not easily 
enter into the spirit of the Mu^allaqdt or the odes of 
Mutanabbi, and if space allowed it would be a pleasant task 
to translate some of the charming lyric and descriptive pieces 
which have been collected by anthologists. The omission, 
however, is less grave inasmuch as Von Schack has given us a 
series of excellent versions in his Poesie und Kunst der Araber 
in Spanien and Sicillen (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). 

" One of its marvels," says Qazwinl, referring to the town 
of Shilb (Silves) in Portugal, " is the fact, which innumerable 
persons have mentioned, that the people living there, with few 
exceptions, are makers of verse and devoted to belles-lettres ; 
and if you passed by a labourer standing behind his plough 
and asked him to recite some verses, he would at once 
improvise on any subject that you might demand." 1 Of 
such folk-songs the zajal and muwashshah were 

Folk-songs. . ; 

favourite types. 2 Both forms were invented in 
Spain, and their structure is very similar, consisting of several 
stanzas in which the rhymes are so arranged that the master- 
rhyme ending each stanza and running through the whole 
poem like a refrain is continually interrupted by a various 
succession of subordinate rhymes, as is shown in the following 
scheme : — 

1 Qazwim, Athdru H-Bildd, ed. by Wustenfeld, p. 364, 1. 5 sqq. 

2 See Schack, op. cit } vol. ii, p. 46 sqq. 



ANDALUSIAN POETRY 417 



aa 
bbba 
ccca 
ddda. 

Many of these songs and ballads were composed in the 
vulgar dialect and without regard to the rules of classical 
prosody. The troubadour Ibn Quzman (t 1160 a.d.) first 
raised the zajal to literary rank. Here is an example of the 
muwashshah : — 



" Come, hand the precious cup to me, 
And brim it high with a golden sea ! 
Let the old wine circle from guest to guest, 
While the bubbles gleam like pearls on its breast, 
So that night is of darkness dispossessed. 
How it foams and twinkles in fiery glee ! 
"Tis drawn from the Pleiads' cluster, perdie. 

Pass it, to music's melting sound, 
Here on this flowery carpet round, 
Where gentle dews refresh the ground 
And bathe my limbs deliciously 
In their cool and balmy fragrancy. 

Alone with me in the garden green 
A singing-girl enchants the scene : 
Her smile diffuses a radiant sheen. 
I cast off shame, for no spy can see, 
And ' Hola,' I cry, ' let us merry be ! "' 1 

True to the traditions of their family, the Spanish 
Umayyads loved poetry, music, and polite literature a great 

deal better than the Koran. Even the Falcon of 
\ r RaSn b i du Quraysh, <Abdu '1-Rahman I, if the famous verses 

on the Palm-tree are really by him, concealed 
something of the softer graces under his grim exterior. It is 

1 The Arabic original occurs in the nth chapter of the Halbatu 'l-Kumayt, 
a collection of poems on wine and drinking by Muhammad b. Hasan 
al-Nawaji (f 1455 a.d.), and is also printed in the Anthologie Arabe of 
Grangeret de Lagrange, p. 202. 

28 



418 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



said that in his gardens at Cordova there was a solitary date- 
palm, which had been transplanted from Syria, and that one 
day 'Abdu 'l-Rahman, as he gazed upon it, remembered his 
native land and felt the bitterness of exile and exclaimed : — 

"O Palm, thou art a stranger in the West, 
Far from thy Orient home, like me unblest. 
Weep ! But thou canst not. Dumb, dejected tree, 
Thou art not made to sympathise with me. 
Ah, thou wouldst weep, if thou hadst tears to pour, 
For thy companions on Euphrates' shore ; 
But yonder tall groves thou rememberest not, 
As I, in hating foes, have my old friends forgot." 1 

At the court of c Abdu 'l-Rahman II (822-852 a.d.) a 
Persian musician was prime favourite. This was Ziryab, a 
client of the Caliph Mahdi and a pupil of the 

musician 6 celebrated singer, Ishaq al-Mawsilf. 2 Ishaq, seeing 
in the young man a dangerous rival to himself, 
persuaded him to quit Baghdad and seek his fortune in Spain. 
c Abdu 'l-Rahman received him with open arms, gave him a 
magnificent house and princely salary, and bestowed upon him 
every mark of honour imaginable. The versatile and accom- 
plished artist wielded a vast influence. He set the fashion in 
all things appertaining to taste and manners; he fixed the 
toilette, sanctioned the cuisine, and prescribed what dress 
should be worn in the different seasons of the year. The 
kings of Spain took him as a model, and his authority was 
constantly invoked and universally recognised in that country 
down to the last days of Moslem rule.3 Ziryab was only one 

1 Al-Hullat al-Siyard of Ibnu '1-Abbar, ed. by Dozy, p. 34. In the last 
line instead of " foes " the original has " the sons of 'Abbas." Other verses 
addressed by 'Abdu 'l-Rahman to this palm-tree are cited by Maqqari, 
vol. ii, p. 37- 

2 -Full details concerning Ziryab will be found in Maqqari, vol. ii, p. 83 
sqq. Cf. Dozy, Hist, des M us. d'Espagne, vol. ii, p. 89 sqq. 

3 Maqqari, loc, cit, p. 87, 1. 10 sqq. 



CULTURE AND EDUCATION 419 



of many talented and learned men who came to Spain from 
the East, while the list of Spanish savants who journeyed " in 
quest of knowledge" (fi talabi U-'ilm) to Africa and Egypt, 
to the Holy Cities of Arabia, to the great capitals of Syria and 
'Iraq, to Khurasan, Transoxania, and in some cases even to 
China, includes, as may be seen from the perusal of Maqqari's 
fifth chapter, nearly all the eminent scholars and men of letters 
whom Moslem Spain has produced. Thus a lively exchange 
of ideas was continually in movement, and so little pro- 
vincialism existed that famous Andalusian poets, like Ibn 
Hani and Ibn Zaydun, are described by admiring Eastern 
critics as the Buhturis and Mutanabbis of the West. 

The tenth century of the Christian era is a fortunate 
and illustrious period in Spanish history. Under 'Abdu 
'l-Rahman III and his successor, Hakam II, the nation, 
hitherto torn asunder by civil war, bent its united energies 
to the advancement of material and intellectual culture. 
Hakam was an enthusiastic bibliophile. He sent his agents 
in every direction to purchase manuscripts, and collected 
400,000 volumes in his palace, which was 
T 9akL b mn° f thronged with librarians, copyists, and book- 
binders. All these books, we are told, he had 
himself read, and he annotated most of them with his own 
hand. His munificence to scholars knew no bounds. He 
made a present of 1,000 dinars to Abu '1-Faraj of Isfahan, 
in order to secure the first copy that was published of the 
great ' Book of Songs ' (Kitabu U-Aghani), on which the author 
was then engaged. Besides honouring and encouraging the 
learned, Hakam took measures to spread the benefits of 
education amongst the poorest of his subjects. With this 
view he founded twenty-seven free schools in the capital 
and paid the teachers out of his private purse. Whilst in 
Christian Europe the rudiments of learning were confined 
to the clergy, in Spain almost every one could read and 
write. 



420 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



"The University of Cordova was at that time one of the most 
celebrated in the world.. In the principal Mosque, where the 
lectures were held, Abu Bakr b. Mu'awiya, the 
T ofcordova! y Qurayshite, discussed the Traditions relating to 
Muhammad. Abu ( AH al-Qali of Baghdad dictated 
a large and excellent miscellany which contained an immense 
quantity of curious information concerning the ancient Arabs, 
their proverbs, their language, and their poetry. This collection 
he afterwards published under the title of Amdli, or ' Dictations.' 
Grammar was taught by Ibnu '1-Qutiyya, who, in the opinion of Abu 
'All al-Qali, was the leading grammarian of Spain. Other sciences 
had representatives no less renowned. * Accordingly the students 
attending the classes were reckoned by thousands. The majority 
were students of what was called fiqh, that is to say, theology and 
law, for that science then opened the way to the most lucrative 
posts." 1 

Among the notable savants of this epoch we may mention 
Ibn c Abdi Rabbihi (t 940 a.d.), laureate of c Abdu '1- Rah- 
man III and author of a well-known anthology entitled 
al-'Iqd aU Far id 1 the poet Ibn Hani of Seville (t 973 a.d.), 
an Isma'ili convert who addressed blasphemous panegyrics to 
the Fatimid Caliph Mu'izz ; 2 the historians of Spain, Abu 
Bakr al-Razi (t 937 a.d.), whose family belonged to Rayy in 
Persia, and lbnu '1-Qutiyya (t 977 a.d.), who, as his name 
indicates, was the descendant of a Gothic princess ; the 
astronomer and mathematician Maslama b. Ahmad of Madrid 
(t 1007 a.d.) ; and the great surgeon Abu '1-Qasim al- 
Zahrawi of Cordova, who died about the same time, and who 
became known to Europe by the name of Albucasis. 

The fall of the Spanish Umayyads, which took place in the 
first half of the eleventh century, left Cordova a republic and 
a merely provincial town ; and though she might still claim to 
be regarded as the literary metropolis of Spain, her ancient 
glories were overshadowed by the independent dynasties which 

1 Dozy Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, vol. iii, p. 107 sqq. 

2 See the verses cited by Ibnu 'l-Athir, vol. viii, p. 457. 



THE 'ABBADIDS 



421 



now begin to flourish in Seville, Almeria, Badajoz, Granada, 
Toledo, Malaga, Valencia, and other cities. Of these rival 
princedoms the most formidable in arms and the most brilliant 
in its cultivation of the arts was, beyond question, the family 

of the 'Abbadids, who reigned in Seville. The 
<^*2i-io^k%. foundations of their power were laid by the Cadi 

Abu 'l-Qasim Muhammad. " He acted towards 
the people with such justice and moderation as drew on him 
the attention of every eye and the love of every heart," so that 
the office of chief magistrate was willingly conceded to him. 
In order to obtain the monarchy which he coveted, the Cadi 
employed an audacious ruse. The last Umayyad Caliph, 
Hisham II, had vanished mysteriously : it was generally sup- 
posed that, after escaping from Cordova when that city was 
stormed by the Berbers (1013 a.d.), he fled to Asia and died 
unknown ; but many believed that he was still alive. Twenty 
years after his disappearance there suddenly arose a pretender, 
named Khalaf, who gave out that he was the Caliph Hisham. 
The likeness between them was strong enough to make the 
imposture plausible. At any rate, the Cadi had his own 
reasons for abetting it. He called on the people, who were 
deeply attached to the Umayyad dynasty, to rally round their 
legitimate sovereign. Cordova and several other States recog- 
nised the authority of this pseudo-Caliph, whom Abu 'l-Qasim 
used as a catspaw. His son 'Abbad, a treacherous and blood- 
thirsty tyrant, but an amateur of belles-lettres, threw off the 
mask and reigned under the title of al-Mu c tadid (1042- 
1 069 a.d. ). He in turn was succeeded by his son, al-Mu c tamid, 
whose strange and romantic history reminds one of a sentence 
frequently occurring in the Arabian Nights : u Were it graven 
with needle-gravers upon the eye-corners, it were a warner to 
whoso would be warned." He is described as " the most 
liberal, the most hospitable, the most munificent, and the most 
powerful of all the princes who ruled in Spain. His 
court was the halting-place of travellers, the rendezvous 



422 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



of poets, the point to which all hopes were directed, and 
the haunt of men of talent." 1 Mu'tamid himself was a 
t poet of rare distinction. " He left," says Ibn 

Seville^ ^ ^ Bassam, " some pieces of verse beautiful as the bud 
when it opens to disclose the flower ; and had the 
like been composed by persons who made of poetry a pro- 
fession and a merchandise, they would still have been con- 
sidered charming, admirable, and singularly original." 2 
Numberless anecdotes are told of Mu'tamid's luxurious life 
at Seville : his evening rambles along the banks of the 
Guadalquivir ; his parties of pleasure ; his adventures when 
he sallied forth in disguise, accompanied by his Vizier, the 
poet Ibn 'Ammar, into the streets of the sleeping city ; and 
his passion for the slave-girl Ptimad, commonly known as 
Rumaykiyya, whom he loved all his life with constant 
devotion. 

Meanwhile, however, a terrible catastrophe was approach- 
ing. The causes which led up to it are related by Ibn 
Khallikan as follows 3 : — 



" At that time Alphonso VI, the son of Ferdinand, the sovereign 
of Castile and king of the Spanish Franks, had become so powerful 

that the petty Moslem princes were obliged to make 
The ^SpS ides P eace with him and pay him tribute. Mu'tamid Ibn 

'Abbad surpassed all the rest in greatness of power 
and extent of empire, yet he also paid tribute to Alphonso. After 
capturing Toledo (May 29, 1085 a.d.) the Christian monarch sent 
him a threatening message with the demand that he should sur- 
render his fortresses ; on which condition he might retain the open 
country as his own. These words provoked Mu'tamid to such a 
degree that he struck the ambassador and put to death all those 
who accompanied him. 4 Alphonso, who was marching on Cordova, 



1 Ibn Khallikan, No. 697 ; De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 186. 

2 Ibn Khallikan, loc. cit. 

3 Loc. cit, p. 189. For the sake of clearness I iiave slightly abridged 
and otherwise remodelled De Slane's translation of this passage. 

4 A somewhat different version of these events is given by Dozy, 
Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, vol. iv, p. 189 sqq. 



MU'TAMID OF SEVILLE 423 



no sooner received intelligence of this event than he returned to 
Toledo in order to provide machines for the siege of Seville. When 
the Shaykhs and doctors of Islam were informed of this project 
they assembled and said : ' Behold how the Moslem cities fall into 
the hands of the Franks whilst our sovereigns are engaged in warfare 
against each other ! If things continue in this state the Franks 
will subdue the entire country.' They then went to the Cadi (of 
Cordova), 'Abdullah b. Muhammad b. Adham, and conferred with 
him on the disasters which had befallen the Moslems and on the 
means by which they might be remedied. Every person had some- 
thing to say, but it was finally resolved that they should write to 
Abu Ya'qub Yusuf b. Tashifin, the king of the Mulaththamun 1 and 
sovereign of Morocco, imploring his assistance. The Cadi then 
waited on Mu'tamid, and informed him of what had passed. 
Mu'tamid concurred with them on the expediency of such an 
application, and told the Cadi to bear the message himself to 
Yusuf b. Tashifin. A conference took place at Ceuta. Yusuf 
recalled from the city of Morocco the troops which he had left 
there, and when all were mustered he sent them across to Spain, 
and followed with a body of 10,000 men. Mu'tamid, who had also 
assembled an army, went to meet him ; and the Moslems, on 
hearing the news, hastened from every province for the purpose of 
combating the infidels. Alphonso, who was then at Toledo, took 
the field with 40,000 horse, exclusive of other troops which came to 
join him. He wrote a long and threatening letter to Yusuf b. 
Tashifin, who inscribed on the back of it these words : * What will 
happen thou shall see!' and returned it. On reading the answer 
Alphonso was filled with apprehension, and observed that this was a 
man of resolution. The two armies met at Zallaqa, 
B^ieof za^iiaqa ne ar Badajoz. The Moslems gained the victory, and 
1086 a.d.).' Alphonso fled with a few others, after witnessing the 
complete destruction of his army. This year was 
adopted in Spain as the commencement of a new era, and was 
called the year of Zallaqa." 

Mu'tamid soon perceived that he had " dug his own grave " 
— to quote the words used by himself a few years afterwards — 
when he sought aid from the perfidious Almoravide. Yusuf 

1 The term Mulaththamun, which means literally 1 wearers of the 
lithdm ' (a veil covering the lower part of the face), is applied to the 
Berber tribes of the Sahara, the so-called Almoravides (al-Mumbitun), 
who at this time ruled over Northern Africa. 



424 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



could not but contrast the beauty, riches, and magnificent 
resources of Spain with the barren deserts and rude civilisation 
of Africa. He was not content to admire at a distance the 
enchanting view which had been dangled before him. In 
the following year he returned to Spain and took possession 
of Granada. He next proceeded to pick a quarrel with 
Mu'tamid. The Berber army laid siege to Seville, and 
although Mu'tamid displayed the utmost bravery, he was 
unable to prevent the fall of his capital (Septem- 

Captivityand \ *ni_ c . 

death of ber, ioqi a.d.). The unfortunate prince was 

Mu'tamid. , . , . , , n /r 

thrown into chains and transported to Morocco. 
Yusuf spared his life, but kept him a prisoner at Aghmat, 
where he died in 1095 a.d. During his captivity he 
bewailed in touching poems the misery of his state, the 
sufferings which he and his family had to endure, and the 
tragic doom which suddenly deprived him of friends, fortune, 
and power. " Every one loves Mu'tamid," wrote an historian 
of the thirteenth century, " every one pities him, and even now 
he is lamented." 1 He deserved no less, for, as Dozy remarks, 
he was " the last Spanish-born king (le dernier roi indigkne\ 
who represented worthily, nay, brilliantly, a nationality and 
culture which succumbed, or barely survived, under the 
dominion of barbarian invaders." 2 

The Age of the Tyrants, to borrow from Greek history a 
designation which well describes the character of this period, 

yields to no other in literary and scientific 

Ibn Zaydun. J m J 

renown. Poetry was cultivated at every Anda- 
lusian court. If Seville could point with just pride to 
Mu'tamid and his Vizier, Ibn 'Ammir, Cordova claimed a 
second pair almost equally illustrious — Ibn Zaydun (1003- 
107 1 a.d.) and Wallada, a daughter of the Umayyad Caliph 
al-Mustakfl. Ibn Zaydun entered upon a political career 
and became the confidential agent of Ibn Jahwar, the chief 

1 Ibnu '1-Abbar (Dozy, Loci de Abbadidis, vol. ii, p. 63). 

2 Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, vol. iv, p. 287. 



IBN ZAYDtJN 



425 



magistrate of Cordova, but he fell into disgrace, probably on 
account of his love for the beautiful and talented princess, 
who inspired those tender melodies which have caused the 
poet's European biographers to link his name with Tibullus 
and Petrarch. In the hope of seeing her, although he durst 
not show himself openly, he lingered in al-Zahra, the royal 
suburb of Cordova built by 'Abdu '1-Rahman III. At last, 
after many wanderings, he found a home at Seville, where he 
was cordially received by Mu'tadid, who treated him as an 
intimate friend and bestowed on him the title of Dhu 
9 l-Wiz,arataynJ The following verses, which he addressed 
to Wallada, depict the lovely scenery of al-Zahra and may 
serve to illustrate the deep feeling for nature which, as has 
been said, is characteristic of Spanish-Arabian poetry in 
general. 2 

" To-day my longing thoughts recall thee here ; 
The landscape glitters, and the sky is clear. 
So feebly breathes the gentle zephyr's gale, 
In pity of my grief it seems to fail. 
The silvery fountains laugh, as from a girl's 
Fair throat a broken necklace sheds its pearls. 
Oh, 'tis a day like those of our sweet prime, 
When, stealing pleasures from indulgent Time, 
We played midst flowers of eye-bewitching hue, 
That bent their heads beneath the drops of dew. 
Alas, they see me now bereaved of sleep ; 
They share my passion and with me they weep. 
Here in her sunny haunt the rose blooms bright, 
Adding new lustre to Aurora's light ; 
And waked by morning beams, yet languid still, 
The rival lotus doth his perfume spill. 



1 I.e., ' holder of the two vizierships '—that of the sword and that of 
the pen. See De Slane's translation of Ibn Khallikan, vol. iii, p. 130, 
n. 1. 

2 The Arabic text of this poem, which occurs in the QaldHdu 'l-'Iqydn 
of Ibn Khaqan, will be found on pp. 24-25 of Weyers's Specimen criticum 
exhibens locos Ibn Khacanis de Ibn Zeidouno (Leyden, 1831). 



426 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



All stirs in me the memory of that fire 
Which in my tortured breast will ne'er expire. 
Had death come ere we parted, it had been 
The best of all days in the world, I ween ; 
And this poor heart, where thou art every thing, 
Would not be fluttering now on passion's wing. 
Ah, might the zephyr waft me tenderly, 
Worn out with anguish as I am, to thee ! 
O treasure mine, if lover e'er possessed 
A treasure ! O thou dearest, queenliest ! 
Once, once, we paid the debt of love complete 
And ran an equal race with eager feet. 
How true, how blameless was the love I bore, 
Thou hast forgotten ; but I still adore ! " 

The greatest scholar and the most original genius of 
Moslem Spain is Abu Muhammad 4 AH Ibn Hazm, who 

was born at Cordova in 994 a.d. He came 
(994- n io64 a A m D.). °f a ' Renegade ' family, but he was so far from 

honouring his Christian ancestors that he pretended 
to trace his descent to a Persian freedman of Yazid b. Abi 
Sufyan, a brother of the first Umayyad Caliph, Mu'awiya ; 
and his contempt for Christianity was in proportion to his 
fanatical zeal on behalf of Islam. His father, Abmad, had 
filled the office of Vizier under Mansur Ibn Abf c Amir, and 
Ibn Hazm himself plunged ardently into politics as a client — 
through his false pedigree — of the Umayyad House, to which 
he was devotedly attached. Before the age of thirty he 
became prime minister of c Abdu '1-Rahman V (1023- 
1024 a.d.), but on the fall of the Umayyad Government 
he retired from public life and gave himself wholly to litera- 
ture. Ibn Bashkuwal, author of a well-known biographical 
dictionary of Spanish celebrities entitled al-Sila fi akhbari 
cfimmati U-Andalus^ speaks of him in these terms : " Of all 
the natives of Spain Ibn Hazm was the most eminent by 
the universality and the depth of his learning in the sciences 
cultivated by the Moslems ; add to this his profound 
acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and his vast abilities 



IBN HAZM 



427 



as an elegant writer, a poet, a biographer, and an historian ; 
his son possessed about 400 volumes, containing nearly 80,000 
leaves, which Ibn Hazm had composed and written out." 1 
It is recorded that he said, " My only desire in seeking 
knowledge was to attain a high scientific rank in this world 
and the next." 2 He got little encouragement from his con- 
temporaries. The mere fact that he belonged to the 
Zahirite school of theology would not have mattered, but 
the caustic style in which he attacked the most venerable 
religious authorities of Islam aroused such bitter hostility that 
he was virtually excommunicated by the orthodox divines. 
People were warned against having anything to do with 
him, and at Seville his writings were solemnly committed 
to the flames. On this occasion he is said to have 
remarked — 

"The paper ye may burn, but what the paper holds 
Ye cannot burn : 'tis safe within my breast : where I 
Remove, it goes with me, alights when I alight, 
And in my tomb will lie." 3 

After being expelled from several provinces of Spain, Ibn 
Hazm withdrew to a village, of which he was the owner, and 
remained there until his death. Of his numerous 

'The Book of . . . 

Reli fects ,and writin g s on v a * ew have escaped destruction, but 
fortunately we possess the most valuable of them 
all, the 'Book of Religions and Sects' {Kitdbu U-Milal 
wa-l-Nihal\ which was recently printed in Cairo for the 
first time. This work treats in controversial fashion (1) of 
the non-Muhammadan religious systems, especially Judaism, 
Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, and (2) of Islam and its 
dogmas, which are of course regarded from the Zahirite 

1 Cited by Ibn Khallikan in his article on Ibn Hazm (De Slane's transla- 
tion, vol. ii, p. 268). 

2 Maqqari, vol. i, p. 511, 1. 21. 

3 Maqqari, loc. cit, p. 515, 1. 5 seq. 



428 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



standpoint, and of the four principal Muhammadan sects, viz., 
the Mu'tazilites, the Murjites, the Shtttes, and the Khari- 
jites. The author maintains that these sects owed their rise 
to the Persians, who sought thus to revenge themselves 
upon victorious Islam. 1 

The following are some of the most distinguished Spanish 
writers of this epoch : the historian,lAbu Marwan Ibn Hayyan 
of Cordova (f 1075 a.d.), whose chief works are a 
L gp r ^g in colossal history of Spain in sixty volumes entitled 
th ce e nt e u v ry nth al-Matln and a smaller chronicle (al-Muqtabh\ 
both of which appear to have been almost entirely 
lost ; 2 the jurisconsult and poet, Abu '1-Walid al-Bajl 
(f 108 1 a.d.) ; the traditionist Yusuf Ibn 'Abd al-Barr 
(t 1 07 1 a.d.) ; and the geographer al-Bakn, a native of 
Cordova, where he died in 1094 a.d. Finally, mention 
should be made of the famous Jews, Solomon Ibn Gabirol 
(Avicebron) and Samuel Ha-Levi. The former, who was 
born at Malaga about 1020 a.d., wrote two philosophical 
works in Arabic, and his Fons Vitae played an important 
part in the development of mediaeval scholasticism. Samuel 
■, Ha-Levi was Vizier to Badis, the sovereign of 
Granada (1038-1073 a.d.). In their admira- 
tion of his extraordinary accomplishments the Arabs all but 
forgot that he was a Jew and a prince (Naghid) in Israel. 3 
Samuel, on his part, when he wrote letters of State, did not 
scruple to employ the usual Muhammadan formulas, " Praise 
to Allah ! " " May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad ! " 

1 The contents of the Kitdbu 'l-Milal wa-l-Nihal are fully summarised 
by Dozy in the Leyden Catalogue, vol. iv, pp. 230-237. Cf. also Zur 
Komfosition von Ibn Hazm's Milal wa'n-Nihal, by Israel Friedlaender in 
the Noldeke-Festschrift (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 267 sqq. 

2 So far as I am aware, the report that copies are preserved in the great 
mosque at Tunis has not been confirmed. 

3 His Arabic name is Isma'il b. Naghdala. See the Introduction to 
Dozy's ed. of Ibnu 'l-'Idhan, p. 84, n. 1. 



WRITERS OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY 429 



and to glorify Islam quite in the manner of a good Moslem. 
He had a perfect mastery of Hebrew and Arabic ; he knew 
five other languages, and was profoundly versed in the 
sciences of the ancients, particularly in astronomy. With 
all his learning he was a supple diplomat and a man of the 
world. Yet he always preserved a dignified and unassuming 
demeanour, although in his days (according to Ibnu 'l-'Idhan) 
" the Jews made themselves powerful and behaved arrogantly 
towards the Moslems." 1 

During the whole of the twelfth, and well into the first 
half of the thirteenth, century Spain was ruled by two 
African dynasties, the Almoravides and the Almohades, 
which originated, as their names denote, in the religious 
fanaticism of the Berber tribes of the Sahara. The rise 
of the Almoravides is related by Ibnu 'l-Athir as follows : — 2 

" In this year (448 a.h. = 1056 a.d.) was the beginning of the 
power of the Mulaththamiht. 3 These were a number of tribes 

descended from Himyar, of which the most consider- 
Ahnoravfdes. a ^^ e were Lamtuna, Jadala, and Lamta. . . . Now in 

the above-mentioned year a man of Jadala, named 
Jawhar, set out for Africa 4 on his way to the Pilgrimage, for he 
loved religion and the people thereof. At Qayrawan he fell in 
with a certain divine — Abu 'Imran al-Fasi, as is generally sup- 
posed — and a company of persons who were studying theology 
under him. Jawhar was much pleased with what he saw of their 
piety, and on his return from Mecca he begged Abu 'Imran to 
send back with him to the desert a teacher who should instruct 
the ignorant Berbers in the laws of Islam. So Abu 'Imran sent 



1 An interesting notice of Samuel Ha-Levi is given by Dozy in his 
Hist, des Mus. d'Espagne, vol. iv, p. 27 sqq. 

2 Kdmil of Ibnu 'l-Athir, ed. by Tornberg, vol. ix, p. 425 sqq. The 
following narrative (which has been condensed as far as possible) differs 
in some essential particulars from the accounts given by Ibn Khaldun 
{History of the Berbers, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 64 sqq.) and by 
Ibn Abi Zar' (Tornberg, Annates Regum Mauritania, p. 100 sqq. of the 
Latin version). Cf. A. Mtiller, Der Islam, vol. ii, p. 611 sqq. 

3 See note on p. 423. 4 The province of Tunis. 



430 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



with him a man called 'Abdullah b. Yasm al-Kuzuli, who was an 
excellent divine, and they journeyed together until they came to 
the tribe of Lamtuna. Then Jawhar dismounted from his camel 
and took hold of the bridle of 'Abdullah b. Yasin's camel, in 
reverence for the law of Islam ; and the men of Lamtuna 
approached Jawhar and greeted him and questioned him con- 
cerning his companion. 'This man/ he replied, 'is the bearer 
of the Sunna of the Apostle of God : he has come to teach you 
what is necessary in the religion of Islam.' So they bade them 
both welcome, and said to 'Abdullah, ' Tell us the law of Islam,' 
and he explained it to them. They answered, ' As to what you 
have told us of prayer and alms- giving, that is easy ; but when you 
say, " He that kills shall be killed, and he that steals shall have his 
hand cut off, and he that commits adultery shall be flogged or 
stoned," that is an ordinance which we will not lay upon our- 
selves. Begone elsewhere ! ' . . . And they came to Jadala, 
Jawhar's own tribe, and 'Abdullah called on them and the neigh- 
bouring tribes to fulfil the law, and some consented while others 
refused. Then, after a time, 'Abdullah said to his followers, 'Ye 
must fight the enemies of the Truth, so appoint a commander over 
you.' Jawhar answered, ' Thou art our commander,' but 'Abdullah 
declared that he was only a missionary, and on his advice the 
command was offered to Abu Bakr b. 'Umar, the chief of Lamtuna, 
a man of great authority and influence. Having prevailed upon 
him to act as leader, 'Abdullah began to preach a holy war, and 
gave his adherents the name of Almoravides (al-Murdbitun)." 1 

The little community rapidly increased in numbers and 
power. Yusuf b. TashifTn, who succeeded to the command 
in io6q a.d., founded the city of Morocco, and 

The Almoravide ' , . J . 

Empire from this centre made new conquests in every 

(1056-II47 A.D.). . 1 • 1 

direction, so that ere long the Almoravides ruled 
over the whole of North-West Africa from Senegal to 
Algeria. We have already seen how Yusuf was invited by 

1 Murdbit is literally ' one who lives in a ribdt,' i.e., a guardhouse or 
military post on the frontier. Such buildings were often occupied, in 
addition to the garrison proper, by individuals who, from pious motives, 
wished to take part in the holy war (jihad) against the unbelievers. The 
word murdbif, therefore, gradually got an exclusively religious significa- 
tion, ' devotee ' or ' saint,' which appears in its modern form, marabout. 
As applied to the original Almoravides, it still retains a distinctly military 
flavour. 



THE ALMORAVIDES 



43i 



the 'Abbadids to lead an army into Spain, how he defeated 
Alphonso VI at Zallaqa and, returning a few years later, 
this time not as an ally but as a conqueror, took possession of 
Granada and Seville. The rest of Moslem Spain was subdued 
without much trouble : laity and clergy alike hailed in the 
Berber monarch a zealous reformer of the Faith and a mighty 
bulwark against its Christian enemies. The hopeful prospect 
was not realised. Spanish civilisation enervated the Berbers, 
but did not refine them. Under the narrow bigotry of Yusuf 
and his successors free thought became impossible, culture and 
science faded away. Meanwhile the country was afflicted by 
famine, brigandage, and all the disorders of a feeble and corrupt 
administration. 

The empire of the Almoravides passed into the hands of 
another African dynasty, the Almohades. 1 Their founder, 
Muhammad Ibn Tumart, was a native of the moun- 

Ibn Tumart. . * 7 . 

tainous district of Sus which lies to the south- 
west of Morocco. When a youth he made the Pilgrimage to 
Mecca (about 1108 a.d.), and also visited Baghdad, where he 
studied in the Nizamiyya College and is said to have met 
the celebrated Ghazalf. He returned home with his head 
full of theology and ambitious schemes. We need not dwell 
upon his career from this point until he finally proclaimed 
himself as the Mahdi (1121 a.d.), nor describe the familiar 
methods — some of them disreputable enough — by which he 
induced the Berbers to believe in him. His doctrines, how- 
ever, may be briefly stated. " In most questions," says one 
of his biographers, 2 " he followed the system of Abu 'l-Hasan 
al-Ash'an, but he agreed with the Mu'tazilites in their denial 
of the Divine Attributes and in a few matters besides ; and he 

1 See Goldziher's article Materialien zur Kenntniss det Almohaden- 
bewegung in Nordafrika (Z.D.M.G., vol. 41, p. 30 sqq.). 

2 'Abdu '1-Wahid, History of the Almohades, ed. by Dozy, p. 135, 
1. I sqq. 



432 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



was at heart somewhat inclined to Shl'ism, although he gave it 
no countenance in public." 1 The gist of his teaching is indi- 
cated by the name Muwahhid (Unitarian), which he bestowed 
on himself, and which his successors adopted as their dynastic 
title. 2 Ibn Tumart emphasised the Unity of God ; in other 
words, he denounced the anthropomorphic ideas which pre- 
vailed in Western Islam and strove to replace them by a 
purely spiritual conception of the Deity. To this main 
doctrine he added a second, that of the Infallible Imam 
(al-Imdm al-Ma'sum)^ and he naturally asserted that the 
Imam was Muhammad Ibn Tumart, a descendant of 'Alf 
b. AW Talib. 

On the death of the Mahdi (1130 a.d.) the supreme 
command devolved upon his trusted lieutenant, 'Abdu 

'l-Mu'min, who carried on the holy war against 
Jiiz^™6^v. S ). the Almoravides with growing success, until in 

1 158 a.d. he "united the whole coast from the 
frontier of Egypt to the Atlantic, together with Moorish 
Spain, under his sceptre." 3 The new dynasty was far more 
enlightened and favourable to culture than the Almoravides 
had been. Yusuf, the son of 'Abdu 'l-Mu'min, is described 
as an excellent scholar, whose mind was stored with the 
battles and traditions and history of the Arabs before and 
after Islam. But he found his highest pleasure in the study 
and patronage of philosophy. The great Aristotelian, Ibn 
Tufayl, was his Vizier and court physician ; and Ibn Rushd 
(Averroes) received flattering honours both from him and 
from his successor, Ya'qub al-Mansur, who loved to converse 
with the philosopher on scientific topics, although in a fit of 
orthodoxy he banished him for a time.4 This curious mixture 

1 The Berbers at this time were Sunnite and anti-Fatimid. 

2 Almohade is the Spanish form of al-Muwahhid. 

3 Stanley Lane-Poole, The Mohammadan Dynasties, p. 46. 
* Renan, Averroh et V Averroisme, p. 12 sqq. 



THE ALMOHADES 



433 



of liberality and intolerance is characteristic of the Almohades. 
However they might encourage speculation in its proper place, 
their law and theology were cut according to the plain Zahirite 
pattern. " The Koran and the Traditions of the Prophet — or 
else the sword ! " is a saying of the last-mentioned sovereign, 
who also revived the autos-da-fe, which had been prohibited by 
his grandfather, of Malikite and other obnoxious books. 1 The 
spirit of the Almohades is admirably reflected in Ibn Tufayl's 
famous philosophical romance, named after its hero, Hayy ibn 
Taqzdn y i.e., c Alive, son of Awake,' 2 of which the following 
summary is given by Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald in his excel- 
lent Muslim Theology (p. 253) : — 

" In it he conceives two islands, the one inhabited and the other 
not. On the inhabited island we have conventional people living 

conventional lives, and restrained by a conventional 
Eayy b^YaqzL. religion of rewards and punishments. Two men there, 

Salaman and Asal, 3 have raised themselves to a higher 
level of self-rule. Salaman adapts himself externally to the popular 
religion and rules the people ; Asal, seeking to perfect himself still 
further in solitude, goes to the other island. But there he finds 
a man, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, who has lived alone from infancy and has 
gradually, by the innate and uncorrupted powers of the mind, 1 
developed himself to the highest philosophic level and reached the 
Vision of the Divine. He has passed through all the stages of 
knowledge until the universe lies clear before him, and now he 
finds that his philosophy thus reached, without prophet or revela- 
tion, and the purified religion of Asal are one and the same. The 
story told by Asal of the people of the other island sitting in 
darkness stirs his soul, and he goes forth to them as a missionary. 
But he soon learns that the method of Muhammad was the true one 



1 See a passage from 'Abdu 1- Wahid's History of the Almohades (p. 201, 
1. 19 sqq.), which is translated in Goldziher's Zdhiriten, p. 174. 

2 The Arabic text, with a Latin version by E. Pocock, was published in 
1671, and again in 1700, under the title Philosophus Autodidactus. An 
English translation by Simon Ockley appeared in 1708, and has been 
several times reprinted. 

s The true form of this name is Absal, as in Jami's celebrated poem. 
Cf. De Boer, The History of Philosophy in Islam, translated by E. R. 
Jones, p. 144. 

29 



434 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



for the great masses, and that only by sensuous allegory and 
concrete things could they be reached and held. He retires to his 
island again to live the solitary life." 

Of the writers who flourished under the Berber dynasties 
few are sufficiently important to deserve mention in a work of 

this kind. The philosophers, however, stand in 
^ e ^Sides a class by themselves. Ibn Bajja (Avempace), 
(i^iSoa'd 6 ) 8 Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Tufayl, and Musa b. 

Maymun (Maimonides) made their influence felt 
far beyond the borders of Spain : they belong, in a sense, to 
Europe. We have noticed elsewhere the great mystic, 
Muhiyyu 'l-Dm Ibnu 'l- c Arabi (f 1240 a.d.) ; his fellow- 
townsman, Ibn Sab'm (f 1269 a.d.), a thinker of the same 
type, wrote letters on philosophical subjects to Frederick II of 
Hohenstaufen. Valuable works on the literary history of Spain 
were composed by Ibn Khaqan (f 11 34 a.d.), Ibn Bassam 
(t 1 147 a.d.), and Ibn Bashkuwal (t 1183 a «d.)« The 
geographer Idrisf (f 1154 a.d.) was born at Ceuta, studied 
at Cordova, and found a patron in the Sicilian monarch, 
Roger II ; Ibn Jubayr published an interesting account of 
his pilgrimage from Granada to Mecca and of his journey 
back to Granada during the years 1183-1185 a.d.; Ibn 
Zuhr (Avenzoar), who became a Vizier under the Almoravides, 
was the first of a whole family of eminent physicians ; and 
Ibnu '1-Baytar of Malaga (f 1248 a.d.), after] visiting Egypt, 
Greece, and Asia Minor in order to extend his knowledge of 
botany, compiled a Materia Medica, which he dedicated to the 
Sultan of Egypt, Malik al-Kamil. 

We have now taken a rapid survey of the Moslem empire 
in Spain from its rise in the eighth century of our era down 
to the last days of the Almohades, which saw 

Reconquest of J 

Spain by the Christian arms everywhere triumphant. By 

Ferdinand III. J r J 

1230 a.d. the Almohades had been driven out of 
the peninsula, although they continued to rule Africa for about 



THE NASRIDS OF GRANADA 435 



forty years after this date. Amidst the general wreck one 
spot remained where the Moors could find shelter. This was 
Granada. Here, in 1232 a.d., Muhammad Ibnu 'l-Ahmar 
assumed the proud title of c Conqueror by Grace of God ' 
(Ghdlib billdh) and founded the Nasrid dynasty, which held the 
m „ . , Christians at bay during: two centuries and a half. 

The Nasrids J & 

of Granada That the little Moslem kingdom survived so long 

(1232-1492 A.D.). & , 

was not due to its own strength, but rather to its 
almost impregnable situation and to the dissensions of the 
victors. The latest bloom of Arabic culture in Europe 
renewed, if it did not equal, the glorious memories of 
Cordova and Seville. In this period arose the world- 
renowned Alhambra, i.e.^ ' the Red Palace ' (al-Hamra) of 
the Nasrid kings, and many other superb monuments of which 
the ruins are still visible. We must not, however, be led 
away into a digression even upon such a fascinating subject 
as Moorish architecture. Our information concerning literary 
matters is scantier than it might have been, on account of the 
vandalism practised by the Christians when they took Granada. 
It is no dubious legend (like the reputed burning of the 
Alexandrian Library by order of the Caliph 'Umar), 1 but a well- 
ascertained fact that the ruthless Archbishop Ximenez made a 
bonfire of all the Arabic manuscripts on which he could lay 
his hands. He wished to annihilate the record of seven 
centuries of Muhammadan culture in a single day. 

The names of Ibnu '1-Khadb and Ibn Khaldun represent 
the highest literary accomplishment and historical comprehen- 
sion of which this age was capable. The latter, indeed, has 
no parallel among Oriental historians. 

Lisanu '1-Dm Ibnu '1-Khatfb 2 played a great figure in the 

1 Jurji Zaydan, however, is disposed to regard the story as being not 
without foundation. See his interesting discussion of the evidence in his 
Ta'rikhu 'l-Tamaddim al-lsldmi (' History of Islamic Civilisation '), 
Part III, pp. 40-46. 

9 The life of Ibnu '1-Khatib has been written by his friend and contem- 
porary, Ibn Khaldun (Hist of the Berbers, translated by De Slane, vol. iv. 



436 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



politics of his time, and his career affords a conspicuous 
example of the intimate way in which Moslem poetry and 
literature are connected with public life. " The Arabs did 
not share the opinion widely spread nowadays, that poetical 
talent flourishes best in seclusion from the tumult of the 
world, or that it dims the clearness of vision which is required 
for the conduct of public affairs. On the contrary, \ their 
princes entrusted the chief offices of State to poets, and poetry 
often served as a means to obtain more brilliant results than 

diplomatic notes could have procured." 1 A young 
(Ss-i^aS). man like Ibnu '1-Khatib, who had mastered the 

entire field of belles-lettres, who improvised odes 
and rhyming epistles with incomparable elegance and facility, 
was marked out to be the favourite of kings. He became 
Vizier at the Nasrid court, a position which he held, with one 
brief interval of disgrace, until 1371 a.d., when the intrigues 
of his enemies forced him to flee from Granada. He sought 
refuge at Fez, and was honourably received by the reigning 
Sultan, 'Abdu 'l-'Aziz ; but on the accession of Abu 'l-'Abbas 
in 1374 a.d. the exiled minister was incarcerated and brought to 
trial on the charge of heresy (zandaqa). While the inquisition 
was proceeding a fanatical mob broke into the gaol and 
murdered him. Maqqari relates that Ibnu '1-Khatib suffered 
from insomnia, and that most of his works were composed 
during the night, for which reason he got the nickname of 
Dhu 7- c Umrayn^ or 6 The man of two lives.' 2 He was 
a prolific writer in various branches of literature, but, like so 
many of his countrymen, he excelled in History. His mono- 
graphs on the sovereigns and savants of Granada (one of 
which includes an autobiography) supply interesting details 
concerning this obscure period. 

p. 390 sqq.), and forms the main subject of Maqqari's Nafhu 'l-Tib 
(vols, iii and iv of the Bulaq edition). 

1 Schack, op. cit, vol. i, p. 312 seq. 

2 Cited in the Shadhardtu 'l-Dhahab, a MS. in my collection. See 
J.R.A.S. for 1899, p. 911 seq., and for 1906, p. 797. 



IBNU 'L-KHAT/B AND IBN KHALDtfN 437 



Some apology may be thought necessary for placing Ibn 
Khaldun, the greatest historical thinker of Islam, in the 
present chapter, as though he were a Spaniard 
<i33£Sif£). either by birth or residence. He descended, it 
is true, from a family, the Band Khaldun, which 
had long been settled in Spain, first at Carmona and after- 
wards at Seville ; but they migrated to Africa about the 
middle of the thirteenth century, and Ibn Khaldun was born 
at Tunis. Nearly the whole of his life, moreover, was passed 
in Africa— a circumstance due rather to accident than to 
predilection ; for in 1362 a.d. he entered the service of the 
Sultan of Granada, Abu 'Abdallah Ibnu 'l-Ahmar, and would 
probably have made that city his home had not the jealousy of 
his former friend, the Vizier Ibnu 'l-Khadb, decided him to 
leave Spain behind. We cannot give any account of the 
agitated and eventful career which he ended, as Cadi of 
Cairo, in 1406 a.d. Ibn Khaldun lived with statesmen and 
kings : he was an ambassador to the court of Pedro of Castile, 
and an honoured guest of the mighty Tamerlane. The 
results of his ripe experience are marvellously displayed in 
the Prolegomena (Muqaddima\ which forms the first volume 
of a huge general history entitled the Kitdbu '/-'/bar ( c Book of 
Examples 'J. 1 He himself has stated his idea of the historian's 
function in the following words : — 

" Know that the true purpose of history is to make us acquainted 
with human society, i.e., with the civilisation of the world, and with 
ibn Khaldun as * ts natura l phenomena, such as savage life, the softening 
a philosophical of manners, attachment to the family and the tribe, the 

historian. . , . , f ., . . , , 

various kinds of superiority which one people gains 
over another, the kingdoms and diverse dynasties which arise 
in this way, the different trades and laborious occupations to 



1 The Arabic text of the Prolegomena has been published by Quatre- 
mere in Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Imperiale, 
vols. 16-18, and at Beyrout (1879, 1886, and 1900). A French translation 
by De Slane appeared in Not. et Extraits, vols. 19-21. 



438 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



which men devote themselves in order to earn their livelihood, 
the sciences and arts ; in fine, all the manifold conditions which 
naturally occur in the development of civilisation." 1 

Ibn Khaldun argues that History, thus conceived, is subject 
to universal laws, and in these laws he finds the only sure 
criterion of historical truth. 

rt The rule for distinguishing what is true from what is false in 
history is based on its possibility or impossibility : that is to 
say, we must examine human society (civilisation) 

His canons J ' . . . 

of historical and discriminate between the characteristics which 
criticism. are essen ti a i an d inherent in its nature and those 
which are accidental and need not be taken into account, 
recognising further those which cannot possibly belong to it. If 
we do this we have a rule for separating historical truth from error 
by means of a demonstrative method that admits of no doubt. . . . 
It is a genuine touchstone whereby historians may verify whatever 
they relate." 2 

Here, indeed, the writer claims too much, and it must be 
allowed that he occasionally applied his principles in a pedantic 
fashion, and was led by purely a priori considerations to con- 
clusions which are not always so warrantable as he believed. 
This is a very trifling matter in comparison with the value 
and originality of the principles themselves. Ibn Khaldun 
asserts, with justice, that he has discovered a new method of 
writing history. No Moslem had ever taken a view at once 
so comprehensive and so philosophical ; none had attempted 
to trace the deeply hidden causes of events, to expose the 
moral and spiritual forces at work beneath the surface, or to 
divine the immutable laws of national progress and decay. 
Ibn Khaldun owed little to his predecessors, although he 
mentions some of them with respect. He stood far above 
his age, and his own countrymen have admired rather than 
followed him. His intellectual descendants are the great 

1 Muqaddima (Beyrout ed. of 1900), p. 35, 1. 5 sqq. = Prolegomena trans- 
lated by De Slane, vol. i, p. 71. 

2 Muqaddima, p. 37, 1. 4 fr. foot = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 77. 



IBN KHALD&N 



439 



mediaeval and modern historians of Europe — Machiavelli and 
Vico and Gibbon. 

It is worth while to sketch briefly the peculiar theory of 
historical development which Ibn Khaldun puts forward in 
ibn Khaidun's P ro ^ e g omena — a theory founded on the study 
theory of his- Q f actual conditions and events either past or 

toncal evolution. > 1 1 

passing before his eyes. 1 He was struck, in the 
first place, with the physical fact that in almost every part of 
the Muhammadan Empire great wastes of sand or stony 
plateaux, arid and incapable of tillage, wedge themselves 
between fertile domains of cultivated land. The former 
were inhabited from time immemorial by nomad tribes, the 
latter by an agricultural or industrial population ; and we have 
seen, in the case of Arabia, that cities like Mecca and Hfra 
carried on a lively intercourse with the Bedouins and exerted 
a civilising influence upon them. In Africa the same contrast 
was strongly marked. It is no wonder, therefore, that Ibn 
Khaldun divided the whole of mankind into two classes — 
Nomads and Citizens. The nomadic life naturally precedes 
and produces the other. Its characteristics are simplicity and 
purity of manners, warlike spirit, and, above all, a loyal 
devotion to the interests of the family and the tribe. As 
the nomads become more civilised they settle down, form 
states, and make conquests. They have now reached their 
highest development. Corrupted by luxury, and losing the 
virtues which raised them to power, they are soon swept away 
by a ruder people. Such, in bare outline, is the course of 
history as Ibn Khaldun regards it ; but we must try to give 
our readers some further account of the philosophical ideas 

1 Von Kremer has discussed Ibn Khaidun's ideas more fully than is 
possible here in an admirably sympathetic article, Ibn Chaldun und seine 
Culturgeschichte der islamischen Reiche, contributed to the Sitz. der Kais. 
Akad. der Wissenschaften, vol. 93 (Vienna, 1879). I have profited by many 
of his observations, and desire to make the warmest acknowledgment of 
my debt to him in this as in countless other instances. 



440 THE ARABS IN EUROPE 



underlying his conception. He discerns, in the life of tribes 
and nations alike, two dominant forces which mould their 
destiny. The primitive and cardinal force he calls 'asabiyya y 
the binding element in society, the feeling which unites 
members of the same family, tribe, nation, or empire, and 
which in its widest acceptation is equivalent to the modern 
term, Patriotism. It springs up and especially flourishes 
among nomad peoples, where the instinct of self-preservation 
awakens a keen sense of kinship and drives men to make 
common cause with each other. This 'asabiyya is the vital 
energy of States : by it they rise and grow ; as it weakens 
they decline ; and its decay is the signal for their fall. The 
second of the forces referred to is Religion. Ibn Khaldun 
hardly ascribes to religion so much influence as we might 
have expected from a Moslem. He recognises, however, that 
it may be the only means of producing that solidarity without 
which no State can exist. Thus in the twenty-seventh 
chapter of his Muqaddima he lays down the proposition that 
" the Arabs are incapable of founding an empire unless they 
are imbued with religious enthusiasm by a prophet or a saint." 

In History he sees an endless cycle of progress and 
retrogression, analogous to the phenomena of human life. 
Kingdoms are born, attain maturity, and die within a definite 
period which rarely exceeds three generations, i.e., 120 years. 1 
During this time they pass through five stages of development 
and decay. 2 It is noteworthy that Ibn Khaldun admits the 
moral superiority of the Nomads. For him civilisation neces- 
sarily involves corruption and degeneracy. If he did not 
believe in the gradual advance of mankind towards some 
higher goal, his pessimism was justified by the lessons of 
experience and by the mournful plight of the Muhammadan 
world, to which his view was restricted.3 

1 Muqaddima, Beyrout ed., p. 170 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, 
p. 347 sqq. 

2 Muqaddima, p. 175 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 356 sqq. 

3 An excellent appreciation of Ibn Khaldun as a scientific historian will 



EXPULSION OF THE MOORS 441 



In 1492 a.d. the last stronghold of the European Arabs 
opened its gates to Ferdinand and Isabella, and "the Cross 
supplanted the Crescent on the towers of 

The fall of rr 

Granada Granada." The victors showed a barbarous 

(1492 A.D.). 

fanaticism that was the more abominable as it 
violated their solemn pledges to respect the religion and 
property of the Moslems, and as it utterly reversed the 
tolerant and liberal treatment which the Christians of Spain 
had enjoyed under Muhammadan rule. Compelled to choose 
between apostasy and exile, many preferred the latter alterna- 
tive. Those who remained were subjected to a terrible 
persecution, until in 1609' a.d., by order of Philip III, the 
Moors were banished en masse from Spanish soil. 

Spain was not the sole point whence Moslem culture spread 
itself over the Christian lands. Sicily was conquered by the 

Aghlabids of Tunis early in the ninth century, 
Th siciiy bs in anc * a l tnou g n the island fell into the hands of the 

Normans in 107 1 a.d., the court of Palermo 
retained a semi-Oriental character. Here in the reign of 
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1 194-1250 a.d.) might be 
seen " astrologers from Baghdad with long beards and waving 
robes, Jews who received princely salaries as translators of 
Arabic works, Saracen dancers and dancing-girls, and Moors 
who blew silver trumpets on festal occasions." 1 Both 
Frederick himself and his son Manfred were enthusiastic 
Arabophiles, and scandalised Christendom by their assumption 
of 'heathen' manners as well as by the attention which they 
devoted to Moslem philosophy and science. Under their 
auspices Arabic learning was communicated to the neighbour- 
ing towns of Lower Italy. 

be found in Robert Flint's History of the Philosophy of History, vol. i, 
pp. 157-171. 

1 Schack, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 151. 



CHAPTER X 



FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY 

Before proceeding to speak of the terrible catastrophe which 
filled the whole of Western Asia with ruin and desolation, 
I may offer a few preliminary remarks concerning 

General! clictrstG- 

teristics of the the general character of the period which we 
shall briefly survey in this final chapter. It 
forms, one must admit, a melancholy conclusion to a glorious 
history. The Caliphate, which symbolised the supremacy 
of the Prophet's people, is swept away. Mongols, Turks, 
Persians, all in turn build up great Muhammad an empires, 
but the Arabs have lost even the shadow of a leading part and 
appear only as subordinate actors on a provincial stage. The 
chief centres of Arabian life, such as it is, are henceforth 
Syria and Egypt, which were held by the Turkish Mame- 
lukes until 15 1 7 a.d., when they passed under Ottoman 
rule. In North Africa the petty Berber dynasties (Hafsids, 
Ziydnids, and Man'nids) gave place in the sixteenth century 
to the Ottoman Turks. Only in Spain, where the Nasrids of 
Granada survived until 1492 a.d., in Morocco, where the 
Sharifs (descendants of 'AH b. Abi Talib) assumed the 
sovereignty in 1544 a.d., and to some extent in Arabia 
itself, did the Arabs preserve their political independence. 
In such circumstances it would be vain to look for any 
large developments of literature and culture worthy to rank 

with those of the past. This is an age of imitation and 

442 



CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD 443 



compilation. Learned men abound, whose erudition embraces 
every subject under the sun. The mass of writing shows no 
visible diminution, and much of it is valuable and meritorious 
work. But with one or two conspicuous exceptions — e.g. 
the historian Ibn Khaldun and the mystic Sha'ram — we 
cannot point to any new departure, any fruitful ideas, any 
trace of original and illuminating thought. The fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries " witnessed the rise and triumph of that 
wonderful movement known as the Renaissance, . . . but 
no ripple of this great upheaval, which changed the whole 
current of intellectual and moral life in the West, reached the 
shores of Islam." 1 Until comparatively recent times, when 
Egypt and Syria first became open to European civilisation, 
the Arab retained his mediaeval outlook and habit of mind, 
and was in no respect more enlightened than his forefathers 
who lived under the 'Abbasid Caliphate. And since the 
Mongol Invasion I am afraid we must say that instead of 
advancing farther along the old path he was being forced back 
by the inevitable pressure of events. East of the Euphrates 
the Mongols did their work of destruction so thoroughly that 
no seeds were left from which a flourishing civilisation could 
arise ; and, moreover, the Arabic language was rapidly 
extinguished by the Persian. In Spain, as we have seen, the 
power of the Arabs had already begun to decline ; Africa 
was dominated by the Berbers, a rude, unlettered race, Egypt 
and Syria by the blighting military despotism of the Turks. 
Nowhere in the history of this period can we discern either of 
the two elements which are most productive of literary 
greatness : the quickening influence of a higher culture or the 
inspiration of a free and vigorous national life. 2 

Between the middle of the eleventh century and the end 

1 E. J. W. Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, vol. ii, p. 5. 
8 The nineteenth century should have been excepted, so far as the 
influence of modern civilisation has reacted on Arabic literature. 



444 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



of the fourteenth the nomad tribes dwelling beyond the Oxus 
burst over Western Asia in three successive waves. First 

came the Seljuq Turks, then the Mongols 
T wsio| o1 under Chinglz Khan and Huldgti, then the 

hordes, mainly Turkish, of Tfmur. Regarding 
the Seljuqs all that is necessary for our purpose has been said 
in a former chapter. The conquests of Timur are a frightful 
episode which I may be pardoned for omitting from this 
history, inasmuch as their permanent results (apart from the 
enormous damage which they inflicted) were inconsiderable ; 
and although the Indian empire of the Great Moguls, which 
Babar, a descendant of Timur, established in the first half of 
the sixteenth century, ran a prosperous and brilliant course, its 
culture was borrowed almost exclusively from Persian models 
and does not come within the scope of the present work. 
We shall, therefore, confine our view to the second wave 
of the vast Asiatic migration, which bore the Mongols, led by 
Chingi'z Khan and Hulagu, from the steppes of China and 
Tar tar y to the Mediterranean. 

In 1 2 19 a.d. Chinglz Khan, having consolidated his power 
in the Far East, turned his face westward and suddenly 

advanced into Transoxania, which at that time 
^nd H Z uS n f° rme d a province of the wide dominions of the 

Shdhs of Khwarizm (Khiva). The reigning 
monarch, 'Ala'u '1-Din Muhammad, was unable to make an 
effective resistance ; and notwithstanding that his son, the 
gallant Jalalu 'l-Din, carried on a desperate guerilla for twelve 
years, the invaders swarmed over Khur&s&n and Persia, 
massacring the panic-stricken inhabitants wholesale and 
leaving a wilderness behind them. Hitherto Baghddd had 
not been seriously threatened, but on the first day of January, 
1256 a.d. — an epoch-marking date — Hulagu, the grandson 
of Chinglz Khan, crossed the Oxus, with the intention of 
occupying the 'Abbasid capital. I translate the following 



HtfLAGtf AT BAGHDAD 445 



narrative from a manuscript in my possession of the TcCrikh 
al-Khamls by Diyarbakrf (f 1574 a.d.) : — 

In the year 654 (a.h. = 1256 a.d.) the stubborn tyrant, Hulagu, 
the destroyer of the nations (Mubtdu 'l-Umam), set forth and took 
Hulagu before ^ e cas tl e of Alamut from the Isma'ms 1 and slew 
Baghdad (1258 them and laid waste the lands of Rayy. . . . And 
A,D '^ in the year 655 there broke out at Baghdad a fear- 
ful riot between the Sunnis and the ShHtes, which led to 
great plunder and destruction of property. A number of Shtttes 
were killed, and this so incensed and infuriated the Vizier Ibnu 
'l-'Alqami that he encouraged the Tartars to invade 'Iraq, by which 
means he hoped to take ample vengeance on the Sunnis. 2 And in 
the beginning of the year 656 the tyrant Hulagu b. Tuli b. Chingiz 
Khan, the Moghul, arrived at Baghdad with his army, including the 
Georgians (al-Kurj) and the troops of Mosul. The Dawidars 
marched out of the city and met Hulagu's vanguard, which was 
commanded by Baju. 4 The Moslems, being few, suffered defeat ; 
whereupon Baju advanced and pitched his camp to the west of 
Baghdad, while Hulagu took up a position on the eastern side. 
Then the Vizier Ibnu 'l-'Alqami said to the Caliph Musta'sim 
Billah : " I will go to the Supreme Khan to arrange peace." So the 
hound 5 went and obtained security for himself, and on his return 
said to the Caliph : " The Khan desires to marry his daughter to 
your son and to render homage to you, like the Seljuq kings, 
and then to depart." Musta'sim set out, attended by the nobles of 



1 These Isma'ilis are the so-called Assassins, the terrible sect organised 
by Hasan b. Sabbah (see Professor Browne's Literary History of Persia, 
vol. ii, p. 201 sqq.), and finally exterminated by Hulagu. They had many 
fortresses, of which Alamut was the most famous, in the Jibal province, 
near Qazwin. 

2 The reader must be warned that this and the following account of the 
treacherous dealings of Ibnu 'l-'Alqami are entirely contradicted by 
Shi'ite historians. For example, the author of al-Fakhri (ed. by Deren- 
bourg, p. 452) represents the Vizier as a far-seeing patriot who vainly 
strove to awaken his feeble-minded master to the gravity of the situation. 

3 Concerning the various functions of the Dawidar (literally Inkstand- 
holder) or Dawadar, as the word is more correctly written, see 
Quatremere, Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks, vol. i, p. 118, n. 2. 

4 The MS. writes Yajunas. 

s Al-kalb, the Arabic equivalent of the Persian sag (dog), an animal 
which Moslems regard as unclean. 



446 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



his court and the grandees of his time, in order to witness the 
contract of marriage. The whole party were beheaded except the 
Caliph, who was trampled to death. The Tartars 
Baghdad entered Baghdad and distributed themselves in bands 
throughout the city. For thirty-four days the sword 
was never sheathed. Few escaped. The slain amounted to 1,800,000 
and more. Then quarter was called. . . . Thus it is related in 
the Duwalu 'l-Isldm. 1 . . . And on this wise did the Caliphate pass 
from Baghdad. As the poet sings: — 

" Khalati 'l-mandbiru wa-l-asirratu minhumu 
wa J alayhimu hatta 'l-mamdti saldmu." 

" The pulpits and the thrones are empty of them ; 
I bid them, till the hour of death, farewell ! " 

It seemed as if all Muhammadan Asia lay at the feet of 
the pagan conqueror. Resuming his advance, Hulagu 
occupied Mesopotamia and sacked Aleppo. He then 
returned to the East, leaving his lieutenant, Ketbogha, to 
complete the reduction of Syria. Meanwhile, however, an 
Egyptian army under the Mameluke Sultan Muzaffar Qutuz 
was hastening to oppose the invaders. On Friday, the 25th 
of Ramadan, 658 a.h., a decisive battle was fought at 'Ayn 
Jalut (Goliath's Spring), west lof the Jordan. 
Jalut (September, The Tartars were routed with immense 

1260 a.d.). s l aU ghter, and their subsequent attempts to 
wrest Syria from the Mamelukes met with no success. The 
submission of Asia Minor was hardly more than nominal, but 
in Persia the descendants of Hulagu, the Il-Khans, reigned 
over a great empire, which the conversion of one of their 
number, Ghazan (1 295-1 304 a.d.), restored to Moslem rule. 
We are not concerned here with the further history of the 
Mongols in Persia nor with that of the Persians themselves. 
Since the days of Hulagu the lands east and west of the Tigris 
are separated by an ever-widening gulf. The two races — 
Persians and Arabs — to whose co-operation the mediaeval 

1 By Shamsu '1-Dm al-Dhahabi (f 1348 a.d.). 



THE MAMELUKE DYNASTY 447 



world, from Samarcand to Seville, for a long time owed its 
highest literary and scientific culture, have now finally dis- 
solved their partnership. It is true that the 
Arabic ceases to cleavage began many centuries earlier, and 

be the language & & / > 

MolfenTworid before t ^ le ^ °f Baghdad the Persian genius had 
already expressed itself in a splendid national 
literature. But from this date onward the use of Arabic 
by Persians is practically limited to theological and philoso- 
phical writings. The Persian language has driven its rival out 
of the field. Accordingly Egypt and Syria will now demand 
the principal share of our attention, more especially as the 
history of the Arabs of Granada, which properly belongs 
to this period, has been related in the preceding chapter. 

The dynasty of the Mameluke 1 Sultans of Egypt was 
founded in 1250 a.d. by Aybak, a Turkish slave, who 
commenced his career in the service of the 

The Mamelukes . . , « r m..,., -* t • t-n.> TT . 

of Egypt Ayyubid, Malik Salih Naimu 1-Dm. His 

(1250-1517 A.D.). J J , 1 , • V io- 

successors 2 held sway in Egypt and byna 
until the conquest of these countries by the Ottomans. 
The Mamelukes were rough soldiers, who seldom indulged 
in any useless refinement, but they had a royal taste for 
architecture, as the visitor to Cairo may still see. Their 
administration, though disturbed by frequent mutinies and 
murders, was tolerably prosperous on the whole, and their 
victories over the Mongol hosts, as well as the crushing 
blows which they dealt to the Crusaders, gave Islam new 

prestige. The ablest of them all was Baybars, 
jSgSj^ftJ who richly deserved his title Malik al-Zahir, 

i.e y the Victorious King. His name has passed 
into the legends of the people, and his warlike exploits into 

1 Mameluke (Mamluk) means ' slave.' The term was applied to the 
mercenary troops, Turks and Kurds for the most part, who composed the 
bodyguard of the Ayyubid princes. 

2 There are two Mameluke dynasties, called respectively Bahri (River) 
Mamelukes and Burji (Tower) Mamelukes. The former reigned from 
1250 to 1390, the latter from 1382 to 1517. 



448 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



romances written in the vulgar dialect which are recited by 
story-tellers to this day. 1 The violent and brutal acts which 
he sometimes committed — for he shrank from no crime 
when he suspected danger — made him a terror to the 
ambitious nobles around him, but did not harm his reputa- 
tion as a just ruler. Although he held the throne in virtue 
of having murdered the late monarch with his own hand, 
he sought to give the appearance of legitimacy to his 
usurpation. He therefore recognised as Caliph a certain 
Abu '1-Qasim Ahmad, a pretended scion of the 'Abbasid 
house, invited him to Cairo, and took the oath of allegiance 
to him in due form. The Caliph on his part invested the 

Sultan with sovereignty over Egypt, Syria, 
caKphstfEj^tt. Arabia, ana * a H tne provinces that he might 

obtain by future conquests. This Ahmad, 
entitled al-Mustansir, was the first of a long series of mock 
Caliphs who were appointed by the Mameluke Sultans and 
generally kept under close surveillance in the citadel of 
Cairo. The last of the line bequeathed his rights of succes- 
sion to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, on which ground the 
Sultans of Turkey base their claim to supreme authority 
over the Moslem world. 

The poets of this period are almost unknown in Europe, 
and until they have been studied with due attention it 

would be premature to assert that none of them 

Arabic poetry . 

after the Mongol rises above mediocrity. At the same time my 
own impression (based, I confess, on a very 
desultory and imperfect acquaintance with their work) is 
that the best among them are merely elegant and accom- 
plished artists, playing brilliantly with words and phrases, 
but doing little else, No doubt extreme artificiality may 
coexist with poetical genius of a high order, provided 
that it has behind it Mutanabbi's power, Ma'arH's earnest- 
ness, or Ibnu 'l-Farid's enthusiasm. In the absence of these 
1 See Lane, The Modem Egyptians, ch. xxii. 



POETS OF THE PERIOD 449 



qualities we must be content to admire the technical skill 
with which the old tunes are varied and revived. Let us 

take, for example, Safiyyu '1-DIn al-Hilli, who 
?a ^Sim? in was born at Hilla, a large town on the 

Euphrates, in 1278 a.d., became laureate of 
the Urtuqid dynasty at Maridin, and died in Baghdad about 
1350. He is described as "the poet of his age absolutely," 
and to judge from the extracts in KutubPs Fawdtu 
9 l-Wafaydt l he combined subtlety of fancy with remarkable 
ease and sweetness of versification. Many of his pieces, 
however, are jeux d'esprit, like his ode to the Prophet, in 
which he employs 151 rhetorical figures, or like another 
poem where all the nouns are diminutives. 2 The following 
specimen of his work is too brief to do him justice : — 

" How can I have patience, and thou, mine eye's delight, 
All the livelong year not one moment in my sight ? 
And with what can I rejoice my heart, when thou that art a 

joy 

Unto every human heart, from me hast taken flight ? 

I swear by Him who made thy form the envy of the sun 

(So graciously He clad thee with lovely beams of light) : 

The day when I behold thy beauty doth appear to me 

As tho' it gleamed on Time's dull brow a constellation bright. 

thou scorner of my passion, for whose sake I count as 

naught 

All the woe that I endure, all the injury and despite, 
Come, regard the ways of God ! for never He at life's last 
gasp 

Suffereth the weight to perish even of one mite ! " 3 

We have already referred to the folk-songs (muwashshah 
and zajal) which originated in Spain. These simple ballads, 

1 Ed. of Bulaq (1283 A.H.), pp. 356-366. 

2 Ibid., p. 358. 

3 These verses are cited in the Hadiqatu l-Afrdh (see Brockelmann's 
Gesch. d. Arab. Litt., ii, 502), Calcutta, 1229 a.h., p. 280. In the final 
couplet there is an allusion to Kor. iv, 44 : " Verily God will not wrong 
any one even the weight of a mite" (mithqala dharrat in ). 

30 



45o THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



with their novel metres and incorrect language, were despised 
by the classical school, that is to say, by nearly all Moslems 
with any pretensions to learning: ; but their 

Popular poetry. , < r ° 

popularity was such that even the court poets 
occasionally condescended to write in this style. To the 
zajal and muwashshal} we may add the dubayt^ the mawdliyyd^ 
the kdnwakdn, and the himdq, which together with verse 
of the regular form made up the ' seven kinds of poetry ' 
{al-funun al-safra). Safiyyu '1-Dm al-Hilli, who wrote a 
special treatise on the Arabic folk-songs, mentions two 
other varieties which, he says, were invented by the people 
of Baghdad to be sung in the early dawn of Ramadan, the 
Moslem Lent. 1 It is interesting to observe that some few 
literary men attempted, though in a timid fashion, to free 
Arabic poetry from the benumbing academic system by 
which it was governed and to pour fresh life into its veins. 
A notable example of this tendency is the Hazzu 9 I-Quhuf 2 
by Shirbini, who wrote in 1687 a.d. Here we have a 
poem in the vulgar dialect of Egypt, but what is still more 
curious, the author, while satirising the uncouth manners 
and rude language of the peasantry, makes a bitter attack 
on the learning and morals of the Muhammadan divines.3 
For this purpose he introduces a typical Fellah named 
Abu Shadiif, whose role corresponds to that of Piers the 
Plowman in Longland's Vision. Unfortunately, we can- 
not say that such isolated offshoots have gone any way to 
found a living school of popular poetry. The classical 
tradition remains as strong as ever. Only the future can 
show whether the Arabs are capable of producing a genius 
who will succeed in doing for the national folk-songs 
what Burns did for the Scots ballads. 

1 Hartmann, Das Muwatiah (Weimar, 1897), p. 218. 

2 Literally, ' The Shaking of the Skull-caps,' in allusion to the peasants' 
dance. 

3 See Vollers, Beitrilge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache 
in Aegypten, Z.D.M.G., vol. 41 (1887), p. 370. 



IBN KHALLIKAN 



45 i 



Biography and History were cultivated with ardour by 
the savants of Egypt and Syria. Among the numerous 
compositions of this kind we can have no 
(imi-S^d?). hesitation in awarding the place of honour to 
the Wafayatu H-A^yan, or c Obituaries of Emi- 
nent Men,' by Shamsu 'l-Dm Ibn Khallikan, a work which 
has often been quoted in the foregoing pages. The author 
belonged to a distinguished family descending from Yahya 
b. Khalid the Barmecide (see p. 259 seq.), and was born at 
Arbela in 121 1 a.d. He received his education at Aleppo 
and Damascus (1229-1238) and then proceeded to Cairo, 
where he finished the first draft of his Biographical 
Dictionary in 1256. Five years later he was appointed by 
Sultan Baybars to be Chief Cadi of Syria. He retained 
this high office (with a seven years' interval, which he 
devoted to literary and biographical studies) until a short time 
before his death. In the Preface to the Wafayat Ibn Khallikan 
observes that he has adopted the alphabetical order as more 
convenient than the chronological. As regards the scope and 
character of his Dictionary, he says : — 

" I have not limited my work to the history of any one particular 
class of persons, as learned men, princes, emirs, viziers, or poets ; 

but I have spoken of all those whose names are 
Hi Kcti?n^ Cal familiar to the public, and about whom questions 

are frequently asked ; I have, however, related the 
facts I could ascertain respecting them in a concise manner, lest 
my work should become too voluminous ; I have fixed with all 
possible exactness the dates of their birth and death ; I have 
traced up their genealogy as high as I could ; I have marked the 
orthography of those names which are liable to be written in- 
correctly ; and I have cited the traits which may best serve to 
characterise each individual, such as noble actions, singular anec- 
dotes, verses and letters, so that the reader may derive amusement 
from my work, and find it not exclusively of such a uniform cast 
as would prove tiresome ; for the most effectual inducement to 
reading a book arises from the variety of its style." 1 



Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 3. 



452 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 

Ibn Khallikan might have added that he was the first Muham- 
madan writer to design a Dictionary of National Biography, 
since none of his predecessors had thought of comprehending 
the lives of eminent Moslems of every class in a single work. 1 
The merits of the book have been fully recognised by the 
author's countrymen as well as by European scholars. It is 
composed in simple and elegant language, it is extremely 
accurate, and it contains an astonishing quantity of miscel- 
laneous historical and literary information, not drily catalogued 
but conveyed in the most pleasing fashion by anecdotes and 
excerpts which illustrate every department of Moslem life. 
I am inclined to agree with the opinion of Sir William 
Jones, that it is the best general biography ever written ; 
and allowing for the difference of scale and scope, I 
think it will bear comparison with a celebrated English 
work which it resembles in many ways — I mean BoswelPs 
Johnson? 

To give an adequate account of the numerous and talented 
historians of the Mameluke period would require far more 
space than they can reasonably claim in a review 

Historians of 4 J J 

the Mameluke f this kind. Concerning Ibn Khaldun, who 

period. 7 

held a professorship as well as the office of Cadi 
in Cairo under Sultan Barqiiq (i 382-1 398 a.d.), we have 
already spoken at some length. This extraordinary genius 
discovered principles and methods which might have been 

1 It should be pointed out that the Wafaydi is very far from being 
exhaustive. The total number of articles only amounts to 865. Besides 
the Caliphs, the Companions of the Prophet, and those of the next genera- 
tion (Tdbi'un), the author omitted many persons of note because he was 
unable to discover the date of their death. A useful supplement and 
continuation of the Wafaydt was compiled by al-Kutubi (f 1363 a.d.) 
under the title Fawdtu 'l-Wafaydt. 

2 The Arabic text of the Wafaydt has been edited with variants and 
indices by Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1835-1850). There is an excellent 
English translation by Baron MacGuckin de Slane in four volumes 
(1842-187 1). 



MAQRtzt AND OTHER HISTORIANS 453 



expected to revolutionise historical science, but neither was 
he himself capable of carrying them into effect nor, as the 
event proved, did they inspire his successors to abandon 
the path of tradition. I cannot imagine any more decisive 
symptom of the intellectual lethargy in which Islam was 
now sunk, or any clearer example of the rule that even 
the greatest writers struggle in vain against the spirit of 
their own times. There were plenty of learned men, how- 
ever, who compiled local and universal histories. Considering 
the precious materials which their industry has preserved for 
us, we should rather admire these diligent and erudite authors 
than complain of their inability to break away from the 
established mode. Perhaps the most famous among them 
is Taqiyyu '1-Dm al-Maqrlz! (1364-1442 a.d.). A native 
of Cairo, he devoted himself to Egyptian history and 
antiquities, on which subject he composed several standard 
works, such as the Khitat 1 and the Suluk. 2 Although he 
was both unconscientious and uncritical, too often copying 
without acknowledgment or comment, and indulging in 
wholesale plagiarism when it suited his purpose, 
these faults which are characteristic of his age may 
easily be excufeed. " He has accumulated and reduced to a 
certain amount of order a large quantity of information that 
would but for him have passed into oblivion. He is generally 
painstaking and accurate, and always resorts to contemporary 
evidence if it is available. Also he has a pleasant and lucid 
style, and writes without bias and apparently with distinguished 
impartiality." 3 Other well-known works belonging to this 

1 The full title is al-MawdHz wa-'UVtibdr ft dhikri 'l-Khitat wa-l-Athdr. 
It was printed at Bulaq in 1270 a.h. 

2 Al-Sidiik li-ma l rifati Duwali 'l-Muluk, a history of the Ayyubids and 
Mamelukes. The portion relating to the latter dynasty is accessible in the 
excellent French version by Quatremere (Histoire des Sidtans Mamlouks 
de VEgypte, Paris, 1845). 

3 A. R. Guest, A List of Writers, Books, and other Authorities mentioned 
by El Maqrlzl in his Khitat, J.R.A.S. for 1902, p. 106. 



454 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



epoch are the Fakhri of Ibnu '1-Tiqtaqa, a delightful manual 
of Muhammadan politics 1 which was written at Mosul in 
1302 a.d.; the epitome of universal history by Abu '1-Fida, 
Prince of Hamat (f 1331) ; the voluminous Chronicle of 
Islam by Dhahabi (f 1348) ; the high-flown Biography of 
Timur entitled ^Ajciibu 'I-Maqdiir, or 'Marvels of Destiny,' 
by Ibn 'Arabshah (t 1450) ; and the Nujum al-Zdhira 
('Resplendent Stars') by Abu '1-Mahasin b. TaghHbirdi 
(t 1469), which contains the annals of Egypt under the 
Moslems. The political and literary history of Muham- 
madan Spain by Maqqarf of Tilimsan (f 1632) was mentioned 
in the last chapter. 2 

If we were asked to select a single figure who should exhibit 
as completely as possible in his own person the literary 
tendencies of the Alexandrian age of Arabic 

Jalalu 'l-Dm al- . . 11 r n 

suyuti (1445 civilisation, our choice would assuredlv rail on 

1505 A.D.). 

Jalalu '1-Din al-Suyuti, who was born at Suyut 
(Usyuf) in Upper Egypt in 1445 a.d. His family came 
originally from Persia, but, like Dhahabi, Ibn Taghnbirdi, and 
many celebrated writers of this time, he had, through his 
mother, an admixture of Turkish blood. At the age of five 
years and seven months, when his father died, the precocious 
boy had already reached the Suratu f I-Tahrim (Sura of For- 
bidding), which is the sixty-sixth chapter of the Koran, and he 
knew the whole volume by heart before he was eight years old. 
He prosecuted his studies under the most renowned masters 
in every branch of Moslem learning, and on finishing his 
education held one Professorship after another at Cairo until 
1 501, when he was deprived of his post in consequence of 
malversation of the bursary monies in his charge. He died 

1 The Fakhri has been edited by Ahlwardt (i860) and Derenbourg 
(1895). The simplicity of its style and the varied interest of its contents 
have made it deservedly popular. Leaving the Koran out of account, I 
do not know any book that is better fitted to serve as an introduction to 
Arabic literature. 

2 See p. 4i3,> 1. 



JALALU y L-DiN AL-SUYtJTl 455 



four years later in the islet of Rawda on the Nile, whither he 
had retired under the pretence of devoting the rest of his life 
to God. We possess the titles of more than five hundred 
separate works which he composed. This number would be 
incredible but for the fact that many of them are brief 
pamphlets displaying the author's curious erudition on all sorts 
of abstruse subjects — e.g., whether the Prophet wore trousers, 
whether his turban had a point, and whether his parents are in 
Hell or Paradise. Suyuti's indefatigable pen travelled over 
an immense field of knowledge — Koran, Tradition, Law, 
Philosophy and History, Philology and Rhetoric. Like some 
of the old Alexandrian scholars, he seems to have taken pride 
in a reputation for polygraphy, and his enemies declared that 
he made free with other men's books, which he used to alter 
slightly and then give out as his own. Suyuti, on his part, 
laid before the Shaykhu '1-Islam a formal accusation of 
plagiarism against Qastallani, an eminent contemporary divine. 
We are told that his vanity and arrogance involved him in 
frequent quarrels, and that he was ' cut ' by his learned 
brethren. Be this as it may, he saw what the public wanted. 
His compendious and readable handbooks were famed 
throughout the Moslem world, as he himself boasts, from 
India to Morocco, and did much to popularise the scientific 
culture of the day. It will be enough to mention here the 
Itqdn on Koranic exegesis ; the Tafsiru 'l-Jaldlayn, or 4 Com- 
mentary on the Koran by the two Jalals,' which was begun 
by Jalalu '1-Dm al-MahalH and finished by his namesake, 
Suyuti ; the Muzhir (Mizhar), a treatise on philology ; the 
Husnu U-Muhddara, a history of Old and New Cairo ; and 
the Tarikhu 'l-Khulafd, or c History of the Caliphs.' 

To dwell longer on the literature of this period would only 
be to emphasise its scholastic and unoriginal character. A 
passing mention, however, is due to the encyclopaedists Nuwayri 
(fi332), author of the Nihdyatu 7- Arab, and Ibnu '1-Wardi 



456 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



(fi349). Safadi (11363) compiled a gigantic biographical 
dictionary, the Wafi bi U-Wafayat^ in twenty-six volumes, and 
the learned traditionist, Ibn Hajar of Ascalon 
of h the S period S (t I 449)> nas left a large number of writings, 
among which it will be sufficient to name the 
Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba y or Lives of the Companions of the 
Prophet. 1 We shall conclude this part of our subject by 
enumerating a few celebrated works which may be described 
in modern terms as standard text-books for the Schools and 
Universities of Islam. Amidst the host of manuals of 
Theology and Jurisprudence, with their endless array of 
abridgments, commentaries, and supercommentaries, possibly 
the best known to European students are those by Abu 
'1-Barakdt al-Nasafi (11310), 'Adudu '1-Din al-Ijf ( + 1355), 
Sfd£ Khalfl al-Jundl (11365), Taftazam (11389), Sharif 
al-Jurjanf (11413), and Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (11486). 
For Philology and Lexicography we have the Alfiyya^ a 
versified grammar by Ibn Malik of Jaen (11273) » tne 
Ajurrumiyya on the rudiments of grammar, an exceedingly 
popular compendium by Sanhajf (11323) ; and two famous 
Arabic dictionaries, the Lisanu U-'Arab by Jamalu '1-Dln Ibn 
Mukarram (11311), and the Qamus by Ffruzabddi (11414). 
Nor, although he was a Turk, should we leave unnoticed the 
great bibliographer Hajjf Khalifa (11658), whose Kashfu 
'/-Zunun contains the titles, arranged alphabetically, of all 
the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish books of which the 
existence was known to him. 



The Mameluke period gave final shape to the A If Lay la 
wa-Layla y or 'Thousand and One Nights,' a work which is 
far more popular in Europe than the Koran or any other master- 
piece of Arabic literature. The modern title, 'Arabian Nights,' 
tells only a part of the truth. Mas'udi (1956 a.d.) mentions 

1 A Biographical Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammad, ed. by 
Sprenger and others (Calcutta, 1856-1873). 



THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS 457 



an old Persian book, the Hazdr Afsana ('Thousand Tales') 
which " is generally called the Thousand and One Nights ; it 

is the story of the King and his Vizier, and of the 
a^d e oneNights d ' Vizier's daughter and her slave-girl : Shlrazdd and 

Dindz&d." 1 The author of the Fihrist, writing 
in 988 a.d., begins his chapter " concerning the Story-Tellers 
and the Fabulists and the names of the books which they 
composed" with the following passage (p. 304) : — 

" The first who composed fables and made books of them and put 
them by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speaking 
them were the Ancient Persians. Afterwards the 
of e the n 'Thou n Parthian kings, who form the third dynasty of the 
Sai Nighfs' )rie kings of Persia, showed the utmost zeal in this matter. 

Then in the days of the Sasanian kings such books 
became numerous and abundant, and the Arabs translated them 
into the Arabic tongue, and they soon reached the hands of philo- 
logists and rhetoricians, who corrected and embellished them and 
composed other books in the same style. Now the first book ever 
made on this subject was the Book of the Thousand Tales {Hazdr 
Afsdn), on the following occasion : A certain king of Persia used 
to marry a woman for one night and kill her the next morning. 
And he wedded a wise and clever princess, called Shahrazad, who 
began to tell him stories and brought the tale at daybreak to a point 
that induced the king to spare her life and ask her on the second 
night to finish her tale. So she continued until a thousand nights 
had passed, and she was blessed with a son by him. . . . And the 
king had a stewardess (qahramdna) named Dmarzad, who was in 
league with the queen. It is also said that this book was composed 
for Humani, the daughter of Bahman, and there are various tradi- 
tions concerning it. The truth, if God will, is that Alexander (the 
Great) was the first who heard stories by night, and 
Th Afidn. ar he had people to make him laugh and divert him with 
tales ; although he did not seek amusement therein, 
but only to store and preserve them (in his memory). The kings 
who came after him used the ' Thousand Tales ' (Hazdr Afsdn) for this 



1 Muruju 'l-Dhahab, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv. p. 90. The 
names Shirazad and Dinazad are obviously Persian. Probably the former 
is a corruption of Chihrazad, meaning ' of noble race,' while Dinazad 
signifies ' of noble religion.' My readers will easily recognise the 
familiar Scheherazade and Dinarzade. 



458 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



purpose. It covers a space of one thousand nights, but contains 
less than two hundred stories, because the telling of a single story 
often takes several nights. I have seen the complete work more 
than once, and it is indeed a vulgar, insipid book (kifdb un ghathth™ 
bdridu' l-hadith). 1 

Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad b. 'Abdus al-Jahshiyari ({942-943 A.D.), 
the author of the ' Book of Viziers,' began to compile a book in 
which he selected one thousand stories of the Arabs, the Persians, 
the Greeks, and other peoples, every piece being independent 
and unconnected with the rest. He gathered the story-tellers round 
him and took from them the best of what they knew and were able 
to tell, and he chose out of the fable and story-books whatever 
pleased him. He was a skilful craftsman, so he put together from 
this material 480 nights, each night an entire story of fifty pages, 
more or less, but death surprised him before he completed the 
thousand tales as he had intended." 



Evidently, then, the Hazdr Afsdn was the kernel of the 
c Arabian Nights,' and it is probable that this Persian 
archetype included the most finely imaginative 
SfhTcoSon! tales in the existm g collection, e.g., the ' Fisher- 
man and the Genie,' * Camaralzaman and 
Budur,' and the ' Enchanted Horse.' As time went on, the 
original stock received large additions which may be divided 
into two principal groups, both Semitic in character : the one 
belonging to Baghdad and consisting mainly of humorous 
anecdotes and love romances in which the famous Caliph 
c Haroun Alraschid ' frequently comes on the scene ; the 
other having its centre in Cairo, and marked by a roguish, 
ironical pleasantry as well as by the mechanic supernaturalism 
which is perfectly illustrated in c Aladdin and the Wonderful 
Lamp.' But, apart from these three sources, the * Arabian 
Nights ' has in the course of centuries accumulated and 
absorbed an immense number of Oriental folk-tales of every 
description, equally various in origin and style. The oldest 
translation by Galland (Paris, 1704-17 17) is a charming 



1 Strange as it may seem, this criticism represents the view of nearly 
all Moslem scholars who have read the 1 Arabian. Nights.' 



THE ROMANCE OF l ANTAR 459 

paraphrase, which in some respects is more true to the spirit of 
the original than are the scholarly renderings of Lane and 
Burton. 

The 'Romance of 'Antar' [Siratu <- Antar) is traditionally 
ascribed to the great philologist, Asma'i, 1 who flourished in 
the reign of Harun al-Rashfd, but this must be con- 
T of 'Antar "° e sidered as an invention of the professional reciters 
who sit in front of Oriental cafes and entertain 
the public with their lively declamations. 2 According to 
Brockelmann, the work in its present form apparently dates 
from the time of the Crusades.3 Its hero is the celebrated 
heathen poet and warrior, 'Antara b. Shaddad, of whom we 
have already given an account as author of one of the seven 
MiSallaqat. Though the Romance exhibits all the 
anachronisms and exaggerations of popular legend, it does 
nevertheless portray the unchanging features of Bedouin life 
with admirable fidelity and picturesqueness. Von Hammer, 
whose notice in the Mines de V Orient (1802) was the means 
of introducing the Siratu *• Antar to European readers, justly 
remarks that it cannot be translated in full owing to its 
portentous length. It exists in two recensions called respec- 
tively the Arabian (Hijdziyya) and the Syrian (Shdmiyya), the 
latter being very much curtailed.4 

While the decadent state of Arabic literature during all 

1 Many episodes are related on the authority of Asma'i, Abu 'Ubayda, 
and Wahb b. Munabbih. 

2 Those who recite the Siratu l Antar are named l Andtira, sing. 'Antari. 
See Lane's Modem Egyptians, ch. xxiii. 

3 That it was extant in some shape before 1150 a.d. seems to be beyond 
doubt. Cf. the Journal Asiatique for 1838, p. 383 ; Wustenfeld, Gesch. 
der Arab. Aerzte, No. 172. 

4 Antar, a Bedoueen Romance, translated from the Arabic by Terrick 
Hamilton (London, 1820), vol. i, p. xxiii seq. See, however, Fliigel's 
Catalogue of the Kais. Kon. Bibl. at Vienna, vol. ii, p. 6. Further details 
concerning the ' Romance of 'Antar ' will be found in Thorbecke's 
l Antarah (Leipzig, 1867), p. 31 sqq. The whole work has been published 
at Cairo in thirty-two volumes. 



460 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



these centuries was immediately caused by unfavourable social 
and political conditions, the real source of the malady lay 

deeper, and must, I think, be referred to the spiri- 
° r my°stidsm nd tua ^ paralysis which had long been creeping over 

Islam and which manifested itself by the com- 
plete victory of the Ash'arites or Scholastic Theologians about 
1200 a.d. Philosophy and Rationalism were henceforth as 
good as dead. Two parties remained in possession of the field 
— the orthodox and the mystics. The former were naturally 
intolerant of anything approaching to free-thought, and in 
their principle of ijmd\ i.e., the consensus of public opinion 
(which was practically controlled by themselves), they found a 
potent weapon against heresy. How ruthlessly they some- 
times used it we may see from the following passage in the 
Tawaqit of Sha'rani. After giving instances of the persecu- 
tion to which the Suffs of old — Bayazid, Dhu '1-Nun, and 
others — were subjected by their implacable enemies, the 
HJlamd, he goes on to speak of what had happened more 
recently 1 : — 

"They brought the Imam Abu Bakr al-Nabulusi, notwithstanding 
his merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from the 
Maghrib to Egypt and testified that he was a heretic 
Pe Teretics. ° f fandiq). The Sultan gave orders that he should be 
suspended by his feet and flayed alive. While the 
sentence was being carried out, he began to recite the Koran with 
such an attentive and humble demeanour that he moved the hearts 
of the people, and they were near making a riot. And likewise they 
caused Nasinri to be flayed at Aleppo. 2 When he silenced them by 



1 Sha'ram, Yawdqit (ed. of Cairo, 1277 A.H.), p. 18. 

3 In 1417 a.d. The reader will find a full and most interesting account 
of Nasirm, who is equally remarkable as a Turkish poet and as a mystic 
belonging to the sect of the Hurufis, in Mr. E. J. W. Gibb's History of 
Ottoman Poetry, vol. i, pp. 343-368. It is highly improbable that the 
story related here gives the true ground on which he was condemned : 
his pantheistic utterances afford a sufficient explanation, and the Turkish 
biographer, Latifi, specifies the verse which cost him his life. I may add 
that the author of the Shadhardtu 'l-Dhahab calls him Nasimu '1-Din of 



SCHOLASTICS AND SUFlS 461 



his arguments, they devised a plan for his destruction, thus : They 
wrote the Suratu 'l-Ikhlds 1 on a piece of paper and bribed a cobbler 
of shoes, saying to him, 'It contains only love and pleasantness, 
so place it inside the sole of the shoe.' Then they took that shoe 
and sent it from a far distance as a gift to the Shaykh (Nasimi), who 
put it on, for he knew not. His adversaries went to the governor 
of Aleppo and said : ' We have sure information that Nasimi has 
written, Say, God is One, and has placed the writing in the sole of 
his shoe. If you do not believe us, send for him and see ! ' The 
governor did as they wished. On the production of the paper, the 
Shaykh resigned himself to the will of God and made no answer to 
the charge, knowing well that he would be killed on that pretext. 
I was told by one who studied under his disciples that all the time 
when he was being flayed Nasimi was reciting muwashshahs in 
praise of the Unity of God, until he composed five hundred verses, 
and that he was looking at his executioners and smiling. And like- 
wise they brought Shaykh Abu '1- Hasan al-Shadhili 2 from the West 
to Egypt and bore witness that he was a heretic, but God delivered 
him from their plots. And they accused Shaykh 'Izzu '1-Din b. 
'Abd al-Salam 3 of infidelity and sat in judgment over him on 
account of some expressions in his 'Aqida (Articles of Faith) and 
urged the Sultan to punish him ; afterwards, however, he was 
restored to favour. They denounced Shaykh Taju '1-Din al-Subki 4 
on the same charge, asserting that he held it lawful to drink wine 
and that he wore at night the badge (ghiydr) of the unbelievers and 
the zone (zunndr) 5 ; and they brought him, manacled and in chains, 
from Syria to Egypt." 

This picture is too highly coloured. It must be admitted 
for the credit of the Arab c Ulama y that they seldom resorted 
to violence. Islam was happily spared the horrors of an 
organised Inquisition. On the other hand, their authority was 

Tabriz (he is generally said to be a native of Nasim in the district of 
Baghdad), and observes that he resided in Aleppo, where his followers 
were numerous and his heretical doctrines widely disseminated. 

1 The 112th chapter of the Koran. See p. 164. 

2 Founder of the Shadhiliyya Order of Dervishes. He died in 1258 a.d. 

3 A distinguished jurist and scholar who received the honorary title, 
1 Sultan of the Divines.' He died at Cairo in 1262 a.d. 

4 An eminent canon lawyer (f 1370 a.d.). 

5 It was the custom of the Zoroastrians (and, according to Moslem 
belief, of the Christians and other infidels) to wear a girdle round the waist. 



462 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



now so firmly established that all progress towards moral and 
intellectual liberty had apparently ceased, or at any rate only 
betrayed itself in spasmodic outbursts. Sufiism in some degree 
represented such a movement, but the mystics shared the 
triumph of Scholasticism and contributed to the reaction which 
ensued. No longer an oppressed minority struggling for 
toleration, they found themselves side by side with reverend 
doctors on a platform broad enough to accommodate all parties, 
and they saw the great freethinkers of their own sect turned 
into Saints of the orthodox Church. The compromise did not 
always work smoothly — in fact, there was continual friction — 
but on the whole it seems to have borne the strain wonder- 
fully well. If pious souls were shocked by the lawlessness of 
the Dervishes, and if bigots would fain have burned the books of 
Ibnu 'l-'Arabf and Ibnu '1-Farid, the divines in general showed 
a disposition to suspend judgment in matters touching holy 
men and to regard them as standing above human criticism. 

As typical representatives of the religious life of this 
period we may take two men belonging to widely opposite 
camps — Taqiyyu '1-Din Ibn Taymiyya and 'Abdu 'l-Wahhab 
al-Sha'ranf. 

Ibn Taymiyya was born at Harran in 1263 a.d. A few 
years later his father, fleeing before the Mongols, brought him 

to Damascus, where in due course he received an 
(1263— f^TSo. excellent education. It is said that he never 

forgot anything which he had once learned, and 
his knowledge of theology and law was so extensive as almost 
to justify the saying, " A tradition that Ibn Taymiyya does 
not recognise is no tradition." Himself a Hanbalite of the 
deepest dye — holding, in other words, that the Koran must be 
interpreted according to its letter and not by the light of 
reason — he devoted his life with rare courage to the work of 
religious reform. His aim, in short, was to restore the primi- 
tive monotheism taught by the Prophet and to purge Islam 



IBN TAYMIYYA 



463 



of the heresies and corruptions which threatened to destroy it. 
One may imagine what a hornet's nest he was attacking. 
Mystics, philosophers, and scholastic theologians, all fell alike 
under the lash of his denunciation. Bowing to no authority, 
but drawing his arguments from the traditions and practice of 
the early Church, he expressed his convictions in the most 
forcible terms, without regard to consequences. Although 
several times thrown into prison, he could not be muzzled for 
long. The climax was reached when he lifted up his voice 
against the superstitions of the popular faith — saint-worship, 
pilgrimage to holy shrines, vows, offerings, and invocations. 
These things, which the zealous puritan condemned as sheer 
idolatry, were part of a venerable cult that was hallowed by 
ancient custom, and had engrafted itself in luxuriant over- 
growth upon Islam. The mass of Moslems believed, and still 
believe implicitly in the saints, accept their miracles, adore 
their relics, visit their tombs, and pray for their intercession. 
Ibn Taymiyya even declared that it was wrong to implore the 
aid of the Prophet or to make a pilgrimage to his sepulchre. 
It was a vain protest. He ended his days in captivity at 
Damascus. The vast crowds who attended his funeral — we 
are told that there were present 200,000 men and 15,000 
women — bore witness to the profound respect which was 
universally felt for the intrepid reformer. Oddly enough, he 
was buried in the Cemetery of the Sufis, whose doctrines he had 
so bitterly opposed, and the multitude revered his memory — as 
a saint ! The principles which inspired Ibn Taymiyya did not 
fall to the ground, although their immediate effect was con- 
fined to a very small circle. We shall see them reappearing vic- 
toriously in the Wahhabite movement of the eighteenth century. 

Notwithstanding the brilliant effort of Ghazali to harmonise 
dogmatic theology with mysticism, it soon became clear that 
the two parties were in essence irreconcilable. The orthodox 
clergy who held fast by the authority of the Koran and the 



464 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



Traditions saw a grave danger to themselves in the esoteric 
revelation which the mystics claimed to possess ; while the 
latter, though externally conforming to the law of Islam, 
looked down with contempt on the idea that true knowledge 
of God could be derived from theology, or from any source 
except the inner light of heavenly inspiration. Hence the 
antithesis of faqih (theologian) and faqir (dervish), the one 
class forming a powerful official hierarchy in close alliance with 
the Government, whereas the Sufis found their chief support 
among the people at large, and especially among the poor. 
We need not dwell further on the natural antagonism which 
has always existed between these rival corporations, and which 
is a marked feature in the modern history of Islam. It will be 
more instructive to spend a few moments with the last great 

Muhammadan theosophist, 'Abdu 'l-Wahh&b 
(^565 a?d.j. al-Sha'rani, a man who, with all his weaknesses, 

was an original thinker, and exerted an influence 
strongly felt to this day, as is shown by the steady demand for 
his books. He was born about the beginning of the sixteenth 
century. Concerning his outward life we have little informa- 
tion beyond the facts that he was a weaver by trade and resided 
in Cairo. At this time Egypt was a province of the Ottoman 
Empire. Sha'ranl contrasts the miserable lot of the peasantry 
under the new regime with their comparative prosperity under 
the Mamelukes. So terrible were the exactions of the tax- 
gatherers that the fellah was forced to sell the whole produce 
of his land, and sometimes even the ox which ploughed it, in 
order to save himself and his family from imprisonment ; and 
every lucrative business was crushed by confiscation. It is 
not to be supposed, however, that Sha'ram gave serious atten- 
tion to such sublunary matters. He lived in a world of 
visions and wonderful experiences. He conversed with angels 
and prophets, like his more famous predecessor, Muhiyyu '1-Dln 
Ibnu 'l-'Arabi, whose Meccan Revelations he studied and 
epitomised. His autobiography entitled Lataifu H-Minan 



SHA'RAnI 



465 



displays the hierophant in full dress. It is a record of the 
singular spiritual gifts and virtues with which he was endowed, 
and would rank as a masterpiece of shameless self-laudation, 
did not the author repeatedly assure us that all his extra- 
ordinary qualities are Divine blessings and are gratefully set 
forth by their recipient ad majorem Dei gloriam. We should 
be treating Sha'rani very unfairly if we judged him by this 
work alone. The arrogant miracle-monger was one of the 
most learned men of his day, and could beat the scholastic 
theologians with their own weapons. Indeed, he regarded 
theology {fiqh) as the first step towards Sufiism, and endea- 
voured to show that in reality they are different aspects of the 
same science. He also sought to harmonise the four great 
schools of law, whose disagreement was consecrated by the 
well-known saying ascribed to the Prophet : " The variance 
of my people is an act of Divine mercy" (ikhtildfu ummati 
rahmat un ). Like the Arabian Sufis generally, Sha'rdnf kept his 
mysticism within narrow bounds, and declared himself an 
adherent of the moderate section which follows Junayd of 
Baghdad (t 909-910 a.d.). For all his extravagant pretensions 
and childish belief in the supernatural, he never lost touch with 
the Muhammadan Church. 

In the thirteenth century Ibn Taymiyya had tried to 
eradicate the abuses which obscured the simple creed of Islam. 
He failed, but his work was carried on by others and was 
crowned, after a long interval, by the Wahhabite Reformation. 1 

Muhammad b. c Abd al-Wahhab, 2 from whom its name is 

1 See Materials for a History of the Wahabys, by J. L. Burckhardt, pub- 
lished in the second volume of his Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys 
(London, 1831). Burckhardt was in Arabia while the Turks were engaged 
in re-conquering the Hijaz from the Wahhabis. His graphic and highly 
interesting narrative has been summarised by Dozy, Essai sur I'histoire 
de I'lslamisme, ch. 13. 

2 Following Burckhardt's example, most European writers call him 
simply 'Abdu '1-Wahhab. 

31 



466 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



derived, was born about 1720 a.d. in Najd, the Highlands of 
Arabia. In his youth he visited the principal cities of the 
Muhammad b. East, " as is much the practice with his country- 
man^? 11 * 5 men even now," * and what he observed in the 
successors. course f his travels convinced him that Islam was 
thoroughly corrupt. Fired by the example of Ibn Taymiyya, 
whose writings he copied with his own hand, 2 Ibn 'Abd 
al-Wahhab determined to re-establish the pure religion of 
Muhammad in its primitive form. Accordingly he returned 
home and retired with his family to Dir'iyya at the time when 
Muhammad b. Sa'ud was the chief personage of the town. 
This man became his first convert and soon after married his 
daughter. But it was not until the end of the eighteenth century 
that the Wahhabis, under 'Abdu 'l-'Aziz, son of Muhammad 
b. Sa'ud, gained their first great successes. In 1801 they sacked 
Imam-Husayn,3 a town in the vicinity of Baghdad, massacred 
five thousand persons, and destroyed the cupola of Husayn's 
tomb ; the veneration paid by all Shi'ites to that shrine being, 
as Burckhardt says, a sufficient cause to attract the Wahh&bi 
fury against it. Two years later they made themselves 
masters of the whole Hijaz, including Mecca and Medina. 
On the death of 'Abdu 'l-'Aziz, who was assassinated in the 
same year, his eldest son, Sa'ud, continued the work of conquest 
and brought the greater part of Arabia under Wahhabite rule. 
At last, in 181 1, Turkey despatched a fleet and army to recover 
the Holy Cities. This task was accomplished by Muhammad 
'AH, the Pasha of Egypt (18 12-13), and after five years' hard 
fighting the war ended in favour of the Turks, who in 18 18 
inflicted a severe defeat on the Wahhabis and took their 
capital, Dir'iyya, by storm. The sect, however, still maintains 

1 Burckhardt, op. cit, vol. ii, p. 96. 

2 MSS. of Ibn Taymiyya copied by Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab are extant 
(Goldziher in Z.D.M.G., vol. 52, p. 156). 

3 This appears to be the place usually called Karbala or Mashhad 
Husayn. 



THE WAHHABITE REFORMATION 467 



its power in Central Arabia, although it has lost all political 
importance. 

The Wahhabis were regarded by the Turks as infidels and 
authors of a new religion. It was natural that they should 

appear in this light, for they interrupted the 
T Ref^rmaUon. e pilgrim-caravans, demolished the domes and 

ornamented tombs of the most venerable Saints 
(not excepting that of the Prophet himself), and broke to 
pieces the Black Stone in the Ka'ba. All this they did not as 
innovators, but as reformers. They resembled the Carma- 
thians only in their acts. Burckhardt says very truly : <c Not 
a single new precept was to be found in the Wahaby code. 
Abd el Wahab took as his sole guide the Koran and the Sunne 
(or the laws formed upon the traditions of Mohammed) ; and 
the only difference between his sect and the orthodox Turks, 
however improperly so termed, is, that the Wahabys rigidly 
follow the same laws which the others neglect, or have ceased 
altogether to observe." 1 " The Wahhabites," says Dozy, 
a attacked the idolatrous worship of Mahomet ; although he 
was in their eyes a Prophet sent to declare the will of God, he 
was no less a man like others, and his mortal shell, far from 
having mounted to heaven, rested in the tomb at Medina. 
Saint-worship they combated just as strongly. They pro- 
claimed that all men are equal before God ; that even the 
most virtuous and devout cannot intercede with Him ; and 
that, consequently, it is a sin to invoke the Saints and to adore 
their relics." 2 In the same puritan spirit they forbade the 
smoking of tobacco, the wearing of gaudy robes, and praying 
over the rosary. " It has been stated that they likewise pro- 
hibited the drinking of coffee ; this, however, is not the fact : 
they have always used it to an immoderate degree." 3 

The Wahhabite movement has been compared with the 

1 Op, cit, vol. ii, p. 112. 

2 Essai sur V histoire de VIslamisme, p. 416. 

3 Burckhardt, loc. laud., p. 115. 



468 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



Protestant Reformation in Europe ; but while the latter was 
followed by the English and French Revolutions, the former 
has not yet produced any great political results. It has borne 
fruit in a general religious revival throughout the world of 

Islam and particularly in the mysterious Samisiyya 
The Afr!ca! s m Brotherhood, whose influence is supreme in 

Tripoli, the Sahara, and the whole North 
African Hinterland, and whose members are reckoned by 
millions. Muhammad b. c Ali b. Sanusi, the founder of this 
vast and formidable organisation, was born at Algiers in 1791, 
lived for many years at Mecca, and died at Jaghbub in 
the Libyan desert, midway between Egypt and Tripoli, in 
1859. Concerning the real aims of the Sanusis I must refer 
the reader to an interesting paper by the Rev. E. Sell [Essays 
on Islam, p. 127 sqq.). There is no doubt that they are 
utterly opposed to all Western and modern civilisation, and 
seek to regenerate Islam by establishing an independent theo- 
cratic State on the model of that which the Prophet and his 
successors called into being at Medina in the seventh century 
after Christ. 



Since Napoleon showed the way by his expedition to Egypt 
in 1 798, the Arabs in that country, as likewise in Syria and North 

Africa, have come more and more under European 
modern civiiisa- influence. 1 The above-mentioned Muhammad 

'Ah', who founded the Khedivial dynasty, and his 
successors were fully alive to the practical benefits which might 
be obtained from the superior culture of the West, and although 
their policy in this respect was marked by greater zeal than 
discretion, they did not exert themselves altogether in vain. 
The introduction of the printing-press in 1821 was an epoch- 
making measure. If, on the one hand, the publication of 

1 I cannot enter into details on this subject. A review of modern 
Arabic literature is given by Brockelmann, Gesch. der Arab. Lift, vol. ii, 
pp. 469-511, and by Huart, Arabic Literature, pp; 411-443. 



INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN CULTURE 469 



many classical works, which had well-nigh fallen into oblivion, 
rekindled the enthusiasm of the Arabs for their national litera- 
ture, the cause of progress — I use the word without prejudice 
— has been furthered by the numerous political, literary, and 
scientific journals which are now regularly issued in every 
country where Arabic is spoken. 1 Besides these ephemeral 
sheets, books of all sorts, old and new, have been multiplied by 
the native and European presses of Cairo, Bulaq, and Beyrout. 
The science and culture of Europe have been rendered 
accessible in translations and adaptations of which the complete 
list would form a volume in itself. Thus, an Arab may read 
in his own language the tragedies of Racine, the comedies of 
Moliere, 2 the fables of La Fontaine, c Paul and Virginia,' the 
4 Talisman,' c Monte Cristo ' (not to mention scores of minor 
romances), and even the Iliad of Homer.3 The learned and 
purely technical literature derived immediately or indirectly from 
Europe is extensive. In short, France and Britain have taken 
the place which was occupied in the Golden Age of Islam by 
Greece and India, but we must, I think, confess that down to 
the present day the results of all this activity amount to little 
more than the proverbial mouse. 

Hitherto modern culture has only touched the surface of 
Islam. Whether it will eventually strike deeper and penetrate 
the inmost barriers of that scholastic discipline and literary 
tradition which are so firmly rooted in the affections of the 
Arab people, or whether it will always continue to be an 
exotic and highly-prized accomplishment of the enlightened 
and emancipated few, but an object of scorn and detestation 
to Moslems in general — these are questions that may not be 
solved for centuries to come. 

1 See M. Hartmann, The Arabic Press of Egypt (London, 1899). 

2 Brockelmann, loc. cit., p. 476. 

3 Translated into Arabic verse by Sulayman al-Bistani (Cairo, 1904). 
See Professor Margoliouth's interesting notice of this work in the J.R.A.S. 
for 1905, p. 417 sqq. 



470 THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER 



Meanwhile the Past affords an ample and splendid field of 
study. 

11 Man lam yaH H-ta'rikha fi sadrihi 
Lam yadri hulwa 'Wayshi min murrihi 
Wa-man wa'a akhbdra man qad madd 
Addfa a'mdr an ild 'umrihi." 

" He in whose heart no History is enscrolled 
Cannot discern in life's alloy the gold. 
But he that keeps the records of the Dead 
Adds to his life new lives a hundredfold." 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY 
EUROPEAN AUTHORS 

The following list is intended to give students of Arabic as well 
as those who cannot read that language the means of obtaining 
further information concerning the various topics which fall within 
the scope of a work such as this. Since anything approaching to a 
complete bibliography is out of the question, I have mentioned only 
a few of the most important translations from Arabic into English, 
French, German, and Latin ; and I have omitted (i) monographs on 
particular Arabic writers, whose names, together with the principal 
European works relating to them, will be found in Brockelmann's 
great History of Arabic Literature, and (2) a large number of books 
and articles which appeal to specialists rather than to students. 
Additional information is supplied by Professor Browne in his 
Literary History of Persia, vol. i, pp. 481-496, and Mr. D. B. 
Macdonald in his Development of Muslim Theology, etc. (London, 
1903), pp. 358-367 ; while many texts and translations of an older 
date are comprised in the ' Litteratura Arabica,' which occupies 
pp. 109-136 of J. H. Petermann's Grammar in the ' Porta Linguarum 
Orientalium' Series (1867). Those who require more detailed refer- 
ences may consult the Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou relatifs 
aux Arabes publ. dans V Europe chretienne de 18 10 a 1885, by V. 
,Chauvin (Liege, 1892-1903), the Orientalische Bibliographie, edited 
by A. Miiller, E. Kuhn, and L. Scherman (Berlin, 1887 — ), and the 
Catalogue of the Arabic Books in the British Museum, by Mr. A. G. 
Ellis, 2 vols. (London, 1 894-1902). 

In each section works of outstanding authority and value are 
marked with an asterisk. 

I 

PHILOLOGY. 

1. Histoire generate des langues semitiques, by E. Renan (3rd ed., 
Paris, 1863). 

*2. Die Semitischen Sprachen, by Th. Noldeke (Leipzig, 1887). 

An improved and enlarged reprint of the German original 
471 



472 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



of his article, 'Semitic Languages/ in the Encyclopedia 
Britannica (9th edition). 

*3« A Grammar of the Arabic Language, by W. Wright, 3rd ed., 
revised by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje, 2 vols. 
(Cambridge, 1896-98). 

The best Arabic grammar for advanced students. Be- 
ginners may prefer to use the abridgment by F. du Pre 
Thornton, Elementary Arabic : a Grammar (Cambridge 
University Press, 1905), or Socin's Arabic Grammar, trans- 
lated by A. R. S. Kennedy (London, 1895). 

*4. Arabic- English Lexicon, by E. W. Lane, 8 parts (London, 
1863-93). 

This monumental work is unfortunately incomplete. 
Among other lexica those of Freytag (Arabic and Latin, 
4 vols, Halle, 1830-37), A. de Biberstein Kazimirski (Arabic 
and French, 2 vols., Paris, 1846-60, and 4 vols., Cairo, 1875), 
and Dozy's Supplement aux Dictionnaires arabes, 2 vols. 
(Leyden, 188 1), deserve special notice. Smaller dictionaries, 
sufficient for ordinary purposes, have been compiled by 
Belot (Vocabulaire arabe-francais, 5th ed., Beyrout, 1898;, 
and Wortabet and Porter {Arabic- English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 
Beyrout, 1893). 

*5. Abhandlungen zur Arabischen Philologie, by Ignaz Goldziher, 
Part I (Leyden, 1896). 

Contains valuable essays on the origins of Arabic Poetry 
and other matters connected with literary history. 

6. Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Sprache, by G. W. 

Freytag (Bonn, 1861). 

7. Die Rhetorik der Araber, by A. F. Mehren (Copenhagen, 1853). 

II 

GENERAL WORKS ON ARABIAN HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, 
GEOGRAPHY, LITERATURE, ETC. 

*8. Chronique de Tabart, traduite sur la version persane de . . . 

BeVami, by H. Zotenberg, 4 vols. (Paris, 1867-74). 
*9. The Muruju 'l-Dhahab of Mas'udi {Macoudi : Les Prairies d'Or), 
Arabic text with French translation by Barbier de Meynard 
and Pavet de Courteille, 9 vols. (Paris, 1861-77). 

The works of Tabari and Mas'udi are the most ancient and 
celebrated Universal Histories in the Arabic language. 
*io. Abulfedcs Annates Muslemici arabice et latine, by J. J. Reiske, 
5 vols. (Hafnias, 1789-94). 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



473 



*n Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland, by August Miiller, 
2 vols. (Berlin, 1885-87). 

12. Histoire generate des Arabes: leur empire, leur civilisation, leurs 

ecoles philosophiques, scientifiques et litteraires, by L. A. Sedillot, 
2 vols. (Paris, 1877). 

13. Short History of the Saracens, by Syed Ameer Ali (London, 

1899). 

*I4. Essai sur Vhistoire de VIslamisme, by R. Dozy, translated from 

the Dutch by Victor Chauvin (Leyden and Paris, 1879). 
*I5. The Preaching of Islam, a History of the Propagation of the 

Muslim Faith, by T. W. Arnold (London, 1896). 
*i6. Sketches from Eastern History, by Th. Noldeke, translated by 

J. S. Black (London, 1892). 
*I7- The Mohammadan Dynasties, by Stanley Lane-Poole (London, 

1894). 

Indispensable to the student of Moslem history. 

*i8. Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen St'dmme und Familien mit 
historischen und geographischen Bemerkungen in einem alpha- 
betischen Register, by F. Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1852-53). 

^19. Ibn Khallikdn's Biographical Dictionary, translated from the 
Arabic by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 4 vols. (Oriental 
Translation Fund, 1842-71). 

One of the most characteristic, instructive, and interesting 
works in Arabic literature. 

*20. Geographie d'Aboulfeda, traduite de Varabe, by Reinaud and 
Guyard, 2 vols. (Paris, 1848-83). 

*2i. Travels in Arabia Deserta, by C. M. Doughty, 2 vols. (Cam- 
bridge, 1888). 

Gives a true and vivid picture of Bedouin life and manners. 

22. Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah and Meccah, 

by Sir R. F. Burton, 2 vols. (London, 1898). 

23. The Penetration of Arabia : a record of the development of 

Western knowledge concerning the Arabian Peninsula, by D. G. 

Hogarth (London, 1905). 
*24. Hajji Khalifa, Lexicon bibliographicum et encyclopcedicum, Arabic 

text and Latin translation, by G. Fliigel, 7 vols. (Leipzig and 

London, 1835-58). 
*25. Die Geschichtschreiber der Araberund ihre Werke (aus dem xxviii. 

und xxix. Bande der Abhand. d. Konigl. Ges. d. Wiss. zu 

Gottingen), by F. Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1882). 
26. Litter aturgeschichte der Araber bis zum Ende des 12 Jahrhundert 

der Hidschret, by J. von Hammer-Purgstall, 7 vols. (Vienna, 

1850-56). 



474 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



A work of immense extent, but unscientific and extremely 
inaccurate. 

*2?-i Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, by Carl Brockelmann, 

2 vols. (Weimar, 1 898-1902). 

Invaluable for bibliography and biography. 
*28. A Literary History of Persia, by Professor E. G. Browne, vol. i 
from the earliest times to Firdawsi (London, 1902), and vol. ii 
down to the Mongol Invasion (London, 1906). 

The first volume in particular of this illuminating work 
contains much information concerning the literary history of 
the Arabs. 

29. Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, by C. Brockelmann 

(Leipzig, 190 1). 

A popular but trustworthy sketch. 

30. A History of Arabic Literature, by Clement Huart (London, 

i9°3). 

The student will find this manual useful for purposes of 
reference. 

31. Chrestomathie Arabe ou extraits de divers ecrivains arabes . . . 

avec une traduction francaise et des notes, by Silvestre de Sacy, 

3 vols. (2nd ed., Paris, 1826-27). 

32. Specimens of Arabic Poetry from the earliest time to the extinction 

of the Khaliphat, by J. D. Carlyle (Cambridge, 1796). 

33. Ueber Poesie und Poetik der Araber, by W. Ahlwardt (Gotha, 

1856). 

34. Arabum Proverbia, Arabic text with Latin translation, by G. W. 

Freytag, 3 vols. (Bonn, 1838-43). 

35. Arabic Proverbs, by J. L. Burckhardt (2nd ed., London, 1875). 

Ill 

PRE-ISLAMIC HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND 
RELIGION. 

36. Lettres sur Vhistoire des Arabes avant VIslamisme, by F. Fresnel 

(Paris, 1836). 

*37. Essai sur Vhistoire des Arabes avant VIslamisme, by A. P. Caussin 
de Perceval, 3 vols. (Paris, 1847-48). 

Unscientific, but affords an excellent survey of Pre-islamic 
legend and tradition. 

^38. Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, trans- 
lated from the Annals of Tabari, by Th. Noldeke (Leyden, 
i879). 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 475 

The ample commentary accompanying the translation is 
valuable and important in the highest degree. 

39. Die Dynastie der Lahmiden in al-Hira, by Gustav Rothstein 

(Berlin, 1899). 

40. Die Ghassdnischen Fiirsten aus dem Hause Gafna's in Abhand. d. 

Kon. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften, by Th. Noldeke (Berlin, 
1887). 

41. Die Sudarabische Sage, by A. von Kremer (Leipzig, 1866). 

*42. Fiinf Mo'allaqdt iibersetzt und erkldrt, by Th. Noldeke (Vienna, 
1899-1901). 

The omitted Mu'allaqas are those of Imru'u '1-Qays and 
Tarafa. 

43. The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia, translated from the 

original Arabic by Lady Anne Blunt and done into English 

verse by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (London, 1903). 
*44« Hamdsa oder die altesten arabischen Volkslieder iibersetzt und 

erlautert, by Friedrich Riickert, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1846). 
Masterly verse-translations of the old Arabian poetry. 
*45. Translations of ancient Arabian poetry, chiefly Pre-islamic, with 

an introduction and notes, by C. J. Lyall (London, 1885). 
^46. Beitrdge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alien Araber, by Th. 

Noldeke (Hannover, 1864). 
47. Bemerkungen iiber die Aechtheit der alien Arabischen Gedichte, by 

W. Ahlwardt (Greifswald, 1872). 
^48. Studien in arabischen Dichtem, Heft iii, Altarabisches Beduinen- 

leben nach den Quellen geschildert, by G. Jacob (Berlin, 1897). 
*49. Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, by W. Robertson Smith 

(2nd ed., London, 1903). 
*5o. Lectures on the Religion of the Semites, First Series, by W. 

Robertson Smith (London, 1894). 
*5i. Reste Arabischen Heidentums, by J. Wellhausen (2nd ed., Berlin, 

1897). 

52. Ueber die Religion der vorislamischen Araber, by L. Krehl 
(Leipzig, 1863). 

IV 

MUHAMMAD AND THE KORAN. 

*53. Das Leben Mohammed's, translated from the Arabic biography 
of Ibn Hisham by G. Weil, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1864). 
54. Muhammed in Medina, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1882). 

An abridged translation of Waqidi's work on Muhammad's 
Campaigns. 



476 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



*55. Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammad, by A. Sprenger, 3 vols. 

(Berlin, 1861-65). 
*56. Life of Mahomet, by Sir W. Muir, 4 vols. (London, 1858-61). 
*57. Das Leben Muhammed's nach den Quellen popular dargestellt, 

by Th. Noldeke (Hannover, 1863). 
58. Das Leben und die Lehre des Muhammed, by L. Krehl (Leipzig, 

1884). 

*59. The Life and Teachings of Mohammed and the Spirit of Islam, 

by Syed Ameer Ali (London, 1891). 
*6o. Mohammed, by H. Grimme, 2 vols. (Minister, 1892-95). 
61. Die weltgeschichtliche Bedeutung Arabiens : Mohammed, by H. 

Grimme (Munich, 1904). 
*62. Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, by D. S. Margoliouth in 

' Heroes of the Nations ' Series (London and New York, 

I9°5)- 

63. Muhammed, sein Leben, nebst e. Einleitung uber d. Verhdltnisse 

in Arabien vor seinem Auftreten, by F. Buhl, trans., by P. 
Stocks (Leipzig, 1906). 

64. Muhammed, his life and doctrines, by A, N. Wollaston (London, 

1904). 

65. Annali dell' Islam, by Leone Caetani, Principe di Teano, vol i. 

(Milan, 1905). 

Besides a very full and readable historical introduction 
this magnificent work contains a detailed account of 
Muhammad's life during the first six years of the Hijra 
(622-628 A.D.). 

66. The Koran, translated into English with notes and a preliminary 

discourse, by G. Sale (London, 1734). 

Sale's translation, which has been frequently reprinted, is 
still serviceable. Mention may also be made of the English 
versions by J. M. Rod well (London and Hertford, 1861) and 
by E. H. Palmer (the best from a literary point of view) in 
vols, vi and ix of ' The Sacred Books of the East ' (Oxford, 
1880). 

^67. Geschichte desQordns, by Th. Noldeke (Gottingen, i860). 

Cf. Noldeke's essay, ' The Koran,' in Sketches from Eastern 
History, pp. 21-59, or his article in the Encyclopaedia 
Britannica (9th ed.). 

68. Einleitung in den Kordn,by G. Weil (2nd ed., Bielefeld, 1878). 

69. Le Koran, sa poesie et ses lois, by Stanley Lane-Poole (Paris, 

1882). 

70. New Researches into the composition and exegesis of the Qoran, 

by H. Hirschfeld (London, 1902). 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



477 



71. The Speeches and Table-talk of the Prophet Mohammed, chosen 

and translated . . ., by Stanley Lane-Poole (Edinburgh, 1882). 

72. Les traditions islamiques trad, de I'arabe, by O. Houdas and 

W. Marcais, vol. i (Paris, 1903). 

A translation of the celebrated collection of Traditions by 
Bukhan. 

V 

THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPHATE. 

*73« Geschichte der Chalifen, by G. Weil, 3 vols. (Mannheim, 1846-51). 

Completed by the same author's Geschichte des Abbasiden- 
Chalifats in Egypten, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1860-62). 

74. Annals of the Early Caliphate, by Sir W. Muir (London, 1883). 

75. The Caliphate, its rise, decline, and fall, by Sir W. Muir (London, 

1891). 

76. The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the last thirty years of Roman 

dominion, by A.J. Butler (London, 1902). 
^77. Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 
1902). 

An excellent history of the Umayyad dynasty based on the 
Annals of Tabari. 
^78. Recherches sur la Domination arabe, la Chiitisme et les croyances 
messianiques sous le Khalifat des Omayades, by G. Van 
Vloten (Amsterdam, 1894). 
79. Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen, nach arabischen Quellen, by 
F. Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1881). 

VI 

THE HISTORY OF MOSLEM CIVILISATION. 

*8o. Prolegomenes d'Ibn Khaldoun, a French translation of the 
Muqaddima or Introduction prefixed by Ibn Khaldun to his 
Universal History, by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 3 vols, 
(in Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque 
Imperiale, vols, xix-xxi, Paris, 1863-68). 

*8i. Culturgeschichte des Orients unter den Chalifen, by A. von 
Kremer, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1875-77). 

*82. Culturgeschichtliche Streifzuge auf dem Gebiete des Islams, by 
A. von Kremer (Leipzig, 1873). 

This work has been translated into English by S. Khuda 
Bukhsh in his Contributions to the History of Islamic Civiliza- 
tion (Calcutta, 1905). 



478 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



^83. Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Islams, by A. von Kremer 
(Leipzig, 1868). 

^84. Muhammedanische Studien, by Ignaz Goldziher (Halle, 1888-90) 
This book, which has frequently been cited in the fore- 
going pages, should be read by every serious student of 
Moslem civilisation. 
85. Umayyads and 'Abbdsids, being the Fourth Part of Jurji 
Zaydan's History of Islamic Civilisation, translated by D. S. 
Margoliouth (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial, London, 1907). 
*86. Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, by G. le Strange 
(Oxford, 1900). 

*8j. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, by G. le Strange (Cam- 
bridge, 1905). 

*88. Palestine under the Moslems, by G. le Strange (London, 1890). 

89. Arabian Society in the Middle Ages, by E. W. [Lane, edited by 

Stanley Lane-Poole (London, 1883). 

90. Die Araber im Mittelalter und ihrEinfluss aufdie Cultur Europa's, 

by G. Diercks (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1882). 
*9i. An account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, 
by E. W. Lane (5th ed., London, 1871). 



VII 

MUHAMMADAN THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, AND 
MYSTICISM. 

*92. Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence, and Constitu- 
tional Theory, by Duncan B. Macdonald (London, 1903). 
The best general sketch of the subject. 
93. The History of Philosophy in Islam, by T. J. de Boer, translated 
by E. R. Jones (London, 1903). 

*94. Asch-Schahrastdni's Religionspartheien und Philosophen-Schulen, 
translated by T. Haarbriicker (Halle, 1850-51). 

*95. Die religios-poliiischen Oppositionsparteien im alien Islam, by 
J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1901). 

^96. Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden, by R. E. 
Briinnow (Leyden, 1884). 

*97. Die Mutaziliten oder die Freidenker im Islam, by H. Steiner 
(Leipzig, 1865). 

98. Die Schule der Zdhiriten, by I. Goldziher (Leipzig, 1884). 

99. Zur Geschichte Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ash'ari's, by W. Spitta (Leipzig, 

1876). 

*ioo. Die Philosophie der Araber im X. Jahrhundert n. Chr. aus den 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



479 



Schriften der lantern Briider herausgegeben, by F. Dieterici 
(Berlin and Leipzig, 1861-1879). 

101. Averroes et V Averroisme, by E. Renan (Paris, 1861). 

102. Melanges de Philosophic Juive et Arabe, by S. Munk (Paris, 

i859)- 

103. Fragments relatifs a la doctrine des Ismaelis, by S. Guyard 

(Paris, 1874). 

104. Memoir c sur les Carmathes du Bahrain et les Fatimides, by 

M. J. de Goeje (Leyden, 1886). 

105. Expose de la Religion des Druzes, by Silvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. 

(Paris, 1838). 

106. Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeinen Geschichte der Mystik, 

by A. Merx (Heidelberg, 1893). 

107. Ssufismus sive Theosophia Persarum Pantheistica, by F. A. 

Tholuck (Berlin, 1821). 

Some notion of the leading principles of Sufiism may 
readily be obtained from Professor Browne's article Sufiism 
in Religious Systems of the World (Swan Sonnenschein, 1892), 
or from the Introductions to Whinfield's abridged translation 
of the Masnavi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi (2nd ed., London, 1898), 
and to his edition of the Gulshan-i Rdz of Mahmud Shabistari 
(London, 1880). 

108. The Dervishes or Oriental Spiritualism, by John P. Brown 
(London, 1868). 

^109. Les Confreries religieuses Musulmanes, by O. Depont and 
X. Coppolani (Algiers, 1897). 

VIII 

THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE MOORS. 

*no. Hisioire des Musulmans d'Espagne jusqu' a la conquete de 
VAndalusie par les Almoravides (711-1110 a.d.), by R. Dozy, 
4 vols. (Leyden, 1861). 
in. History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, by S. P. Scott, 3 vols. 
(New York, 1904). 

112. The Moriscos of Spain, their conversion and expulsion, by H. C. 

Lea (Philadelphia, 1901). 

113. Historia de los Mozdrabes de Espana, by F. J. Simonet (Madrid, 

1897-1903). 

114. History of the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain, translated from 

the Nafh al-Ttb of Maqqari by Pascual de Gayangos, 2 vols. 
(London, Oriental Translation Fund, 1840-43). 



480 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



115. Annates regum Mauritania, Arabic text and Latin translation, 

by C. J. Tornberg (Upsala, 1843-46). 

116. The History of the Almohades, by 'Abdu '1- Wahid al-Marrakoshi, 

translated by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893). 

117. Bibliotheca arabico-hispana Escurialensis, by M. Casiri, 2 vols. 

(Madrid, 1760-70). 
*n8. Recherches sur I'histoire et la litterature de I'Espagne pendant le 

moyen age, by R. Dozy, 2 vols. (3rd ed., Leyden, 1881). 
*H9. Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien, by A. F. 

von Schack, 2 vols. (2nd. ed., Stuttgart, 1877). 
120. Moorish remains in Spain, by A. F. Calvert (London, 1905). 

IX 

THE HISTORY OF THE ARABS FROM THE MONGOL 
INVASION IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE 
PRESENT DAY. 

*i2i. Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de VEgypte, ecrite en arabe par 
Taki-eddin Ahmed Makrizi, traduite en francais . . . par 
M. Quatremere, 2 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1845). 

122. The Mameluke or Slave dynasty of Egypt, by Sir W. Muir 

(London, 1896). 

123. Histoire de Bagdad depuis la domination des Khans mongols 

jusqu' au massacre des Mamlouks, by C. Huart (Paris, 1901). 

124. History of the Egyptian revolution from the period of the Mame- 

lukes to the death of Mohammed Ali, by A. A. Paton, 2 vols. 
(London, 1870). 

125. The Shaikhs of Morocco in the XVI th century, by T. H. Weir 

(Edinburgh, 1904). 

126. Arabien und die Araber seit hundert J-ahren, by A. Zehme 

(Halle, 1875). 

127. Die Zeitungen und Zeitschriften in arabischer Sprache, by 

M. Hartmann, in Specimen dune Encyclopedic Musulmane, 
ed. by Th. Houtsma (Leyden, 1899). 

128. The Arabic Press of Egypt, by M. Hartmann (London, 1899). 

129. Neuarabische Volkspoesie gesammelt und uebersetzt, by Enno 

Littmann (Berlin, 1902). 



INDEX 



In the following Index it has been found necessary to omit the accents indicating the 
long vowels, and the dots which are used in the text to distinguish letters of similar 
pronunciation. On the other hand, the definite article al has been prefixed throughout to 
those Arabic names which it properly precedes : it is sometimes written in full, but is 
generally denoted by a hyphen, e.g. -'Abbas for al-'Abbas. Names of books, as well as 
Oriental words and technical terms explained in the text, are printed in italics. Where a 
number of references occur under one heading, the more important are, as a rule, shown 
by means of thicker type. 



A 

Aaron, 215, 273 
'Abbad, 421 

'Abbadid dynasty, the, 414, 

421-424, 431 
-'Abbas, 146, 249, 250, 251 
-'Abbas b. -Ahnaf (poet), 261 
'Abbasa, 261 

'Abbasid history, two periods 
of, 257 

'Abbasid propaganda, the, 
249-251 

'Abbasids, the, xxviii, xxix, 
xxx, 65, 181, 182, 193, 194, 
220, 249-233, 254-284, 287- 
291, 363-367, 373 
'Abdullah, father of the Pro- 
phet, xxvii, 146, 148, 250 
'Abdullah, brother of Durayd 

b. -Simma, 83 
'Abdullah, the Amir (Spanish 

Umayyad). 411 
'Abdullah b. -'Abbas, 145, 

237, 249 
'Abdullah b. Hamdan, 269 
'Abdullah b. Ibad, 211 
'Abdullah b. Mas'ud, 352 
'Abdullah b. Maymun al- 

Qaddah, 271-274, 363 
'Abdullah b. Muhammad b. 

Adham, 423 
'Abdullah b. -Mu'tazz. See 

Ibnu 'l-Mu'tazz 
'Abdullah b. Saba, 215, 216 
'Abdullah b. Tahir, 129 
'Abdullah b. Ubayy, 172 
'Abdullah b. Yasin al-Kuzuli, 
430 

'Abdullah b.-Zubayr, 198, 199, 

200, 202 
'Abdu 'l-'Aziz (Marinid), 436 
'Abdu 'l-'Aziz, brother of 

'Abdu '1-Malik, 200 
' Abdu 'l-'Aziz, son of Muham- 
mad b. Sa'ud, 466 



'Abdu '1-Ghani al-Nabulusi, 
402 

'Abdu '1-Hamid, 267 

'Abdu '1-Malik (Umayyad 
Caliph), 200-202, 206, 209, 
224, 240, 242, 244, 247, 349, 
407 

'Abd Manaf, 146 
'Abdu '1-Mu'min (Almohade), 
432 

'Abdu '1-Muttalib, 66-68, 146, 

148, 154, 250 
'Abdu '1-Qadir al-Baghdadi, 

131 

'Abdu '1-Qadir al-Jili, 393 
'Abd al-Qays (tribe), 94 
'Abdu '1-Rahman I, the 

Umayyad, 253, 264, 403-407, 

417, 418 
'Abdu '1-Rahman II (Spanish 

Umayyad), 409, 418 
'Abdu '1-Rahman III (Spanish 

Umayyad), 411-412, 420, 425 
'Abdu '1-Rahman V (Spanish 

Umayyad), 426 
'Abdu '1-Rahman b. 'Awf, 186 
'Abd Shams, 146 
'Abd Shams Saba, 14 
'Abdu 'l-Uzza, 159 
'Abdu '1-Wahhab, founder of 

the Wahhabite sect. See 

Muhammad b. 'Abd al- 

Wahhab. 
'Abdu 'l-Wahhab al-Sha'rani. 

See -Sha'rani 
'Abdu '1-Wahid of Morocco 

(historian), 431, 433 
'Abid b. -Abras (poet), 39, 44, 

86, 101 
'Abid b. Sharya, 13, 19, 247 
'Abida b. Hilal, 239 
'Abir, xviii 
'Abla, 115 

-Ablaq (name of a castle), 84 
Ablutions, the ceremonial, in- 
cumbent on Moslems, 149 



-Abna, 29 

Abraha, 6, 15, 28, 68-68 

Abraham, xviii, 22, 62, 63, 66, 
149, 150, 165, 172, 177 

Abraham, the religion of, 62, 
149. 177 

'Abs (tribe), xix, 61, 88, 114- 
117 

Absal, 433 

Abu 1- 'Abbas (Marinid), 436 
Abu '1- 'Abbas Ahmad al- 

Marsi, 327 
Abu '1- 'Abbas al-Nami (poet), 

270 

Abu 'l-'Abbas-Saffah, 182, 253. 

See Saffah 
Abu 'Abdallah Ibnu '1-Ahmar 

(Nasrid), 437 
Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al- 

Sulami, 338 
Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajani, 370 
Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri, 166, 

167, 206, 271, 289, 291, 296, 

308, 313-324, 373, 448 
Abu 'Ali al-Qali, 420 
Abu 'Ali b. Sina, 265. See 

Ibn Sina 
Abu 'Amir, the Monk, 170 
Abu 'Amr b. al-'Ala, 242, 285, 

343 

Abu '1-Aswad al-Du'ali, 342, 
343 

Abu 'l-'Atahiya (poet), 261, 
291, 296-303, 308, 312, 324. 
374 

Abu Ayman (title), 14 

Abu Bakr (Caliph), xxvii, 142, 

153, 175- 180, 183, 185, 2io, 

214, 215, 257, 268, 297 
Abu Bakr b. Abi 1-Azhar, 344 
Abu Bakr Ibnu 'l-'Arabi of 

Seville, 399 
Abu Bakr b. Mu'awiya, 420 
Abu Bakr al-Nabulusi, 460 
Abu Bakr al-Razi (physician), 

265. See -Razi 



32 



481 



482 



INDEX 



Abu Bakr b. 'Umar, 430 
Abu '1-Darda, 225 
Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 
Abu '1-Faraj of Isfahan, 32, 

123, 131, 270, 347, 419. See 

Kitabu 'l-Aghani 
Abu 1-Faraj al-Babbagha 

(poet), 270 
Abu '1-Fida (historian), 308, 

316, 331, 454. 
Abu Firas al-Hamdani (poet), 

270, 304 
Abu Ghubshan, 65 
Abu Hanifa, 222, 284, 402, 408 
Abu '1-Hasan 'Ali b. Harun 

al-Zanjani, 370 
Abu '1-Hasan al-Ash'ari, 284. 

See -Asltari 
Abu Hashim, the Imam, 220, 

251 

Abu Hashim, the Sufi, 229 
Abu Hudhayl -'Allaf, 369 
Abu '1-Husayn al-Nuri, 392 
Abu 'Imran al-Fasi, 429 
Abu Ishaq al-Farisi. See 

-Istakhri 
Abu Ja'far -Mansur, 258. See 

-Mansur, the Caliph 
Abu Jahl, 158 

Abu Kanb, the Tubba', 12, 19. 

See As'ad Kamil 
Abu Lahab, 159, 160 
Abu '1-Mahasin b. Taghri- 

birdi (historian), 257, 262, 

267, 268, 350, 369, 454 
Abu Marwan Ghaylan, 224 
Abu Ma'shar, 361 
Abu Mihjan (poet), 127 
Abu Mikhnaf, 210 
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, 192, 377 
Abu Muslim, 220, 251-252, 375 
Abu Nasr al-Isma'ili, 339 
Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, 338 
Abu Nuwas (poet), 261, 277, 

286, 290, 291, 292-296, 303, 

308, 345, 375 
Abu Qabus, kunya of -Nu'man 

111,45 

Abu 'l-Qasim Ahmad. See 

-Mustansir 
Abu l-Qasim Muhammad, the 

Cadi, 421 
Abu 'l-Qasim b. -Muzaffar, 312 
Abu 'l-Qasim al-Zahrawi, 420 
Abu Qays b. Abi Anas, 170 
Abu Qurra, 221 
Abu Sa'id b. Abi '1-Khayr, 

391, 394 
Abu Salama, 257 
Abu Salih Mansur b. Ishaq 

(Samanid), 265 
Abu '1-Salt b. Abi Rabi'a, 69 
Abu Shaduf, 450 
Abu Shamir the Younger, 50 
Abu Shamir, kunya of -Harith 

b. 'Amr Muharriq, 50 
Abu Shuja' Buwayh, 266 
Abu Sufyan, 124, 175, 195 
Abu Sulayman al-Darani, 384, 

386, 388 
Abu Sulayman Muhammad 

b. Ma'shar al-Bayusti, 370 



Abu Talib, uncle of the Pro- 
phet, 146, 148, 154, 157, 183, 
250 

Abu Talib al-Makki, 338, 393 
Abu Tammam, author of the 

Hamasa, 79, 129-130, 288, 

316,324,331. See -Hamasa 
Abu 'Ubayda (philologist), 94, 

242, 261, 280, 343, 344, 345, 

459 

Abu 'Ubayda b. al-Jarrah, 51 
Abu '1-Walid al-Baji, 428 <, 
Abu Yazid al-Bistami, 391. 

See Bayazid al-Bistami 
Abu Yusuf, the Cadi, 283 
Abu Zayd of Saruj, 330, 331, 

332, 335 
Abu Zayd Muhammad al- 

Qurashi, 130 
Abusir, 326 

Abyssinia, 53, 155, 156 
Abyssinians, the, xxi ; in 

-Yemen, 5, 6, 26-29 ; invade 

the Hijaz, 66-68 
Academy of Junde-shapur, 

the, 358 
Academy of Sabur, the, 267, 

314 

'Ad (people), 1, 2, 3 

adab, 283, 346 

Adabu 'l-Katib, 346 

Adam, xxvi, 62, 63, 244, 398 

'Adana (river), 15 

'Adawi dervishes, the, 393 

Adharbayjan, 17 

'Adi (tribe), 233 

'Adi b. 'Amr, 94 

'Adi al-Hakkari, 393 

'Adi b. Marina, 244 

'Adi b. Nasr, 35 

'Adi b. Zayd, 40, 45-48, 49, 

138, 244 
'Adiya, 85 
Adler, 316 

'Adnan, xviii, xix, xx, 64 
'Adudu '1-Dawla (Buwayhid), 

266, 307 
^Elius Gallus, 9 
^thiopic language, the, xvi, 

xxi 

Afghanistan,. 268, 275 
Africa, xv, xvi 

Africa, North, 53, 203, 253, 
271, 274, 405, 419, 423, 424, 
429, 430, 434, 437, 439, 442, 
443, 468 

Afshin, 375 

-Afwah al-Awdi (poet), 83 
-Aghani. See Kitabu 'l-Aghani 
Aghlabid dynasty, the, 264, 

274, 44i 
Aghmat, 424 
-Ahlaf, at -Hira, 38 
Ahlu '1-Kitab, 341 
Ahlu '1-Taswiya, 280. See 

Shu l ubites, tlie 
Ahlu '1-tawhid wa-'l-'adl, a 

name given to the Mu'tazi- 

lites, 224 
Ahlwardt, 76, 101, 125, 128, 

133, 136, 286, 293, 294, 304, 

349, 454 



Ahmad (Buwayhid), 266 
Ahmad, brother of Ghazali, 

339 

Ahmad, father of Ibn Hazm, 
426 

Ahmad b. Hanbal, 284, 369, 

376, 402 
Ahmad al-Nahhas, 102 
Ahmad b. Tulun, 354 
Ahmar of Thamud, 3 
Ahnum, 19 

Ahqafu '1-Raml (desert), 1 
Ahsanu 'l-Taqasim fi ma'r- 

ifati 'l-Aqalim, 357 
ahwal, mystical term, 231, 391 
-Ahwas (poet), 237 
-Ahwaz, 271, 293 
A'isha, 151, 183 
'Aja 'ibu 'l-Maqdur, 454 
-'Ajam (the non-Arabs), 277. 

See -Mawali 
-'Ajjaj (poet) 138 
-Ajurrumiyya, 456 
Akbar (Mogul Emperor), xxx 
Akhbaru 'l-Zaman, 353 
-Akhtal (poet), 221, 238, 239- 

242, 285 
akhu 'l-safa, 370 
Akilu '1-Murar (surname), 42 
-A 'lam (philologist), 128 
Alamut, 445 

'Ala'u '1-Din Muhammad 

Khwarizmshah, 444 
Albategnius, 361 
Albucasis, 420 
Albumaser, 361 
Alchemists, the, 361, 387 
Alchemy, works on, translated 

into Arabic, 358 
Aleppo, 269, 270, 275, 291, 303, 

305, 3i3, 360, 415, 446, 45ir 

460, 461 
Alexander the Great, 17, 276, 

358, 457 
Alexandria, 340 
Alexandrian Library, the, 435 
Alf Layla wa-Layla, 456, 459. 

See Thousand Nights and a 

Night and Arabian Nights 
-Alfiyya, 456 
Alfraganus, 361 
Algeria, 430 
Algiers, 468 
Alhambra, the, 435 
'Ali (Buwayhid), 266 
'Ali, grandson of 'Umar Ibnu 

'1-Farid, 394 
'Ali b. Abi Talib, the Prophet's 

son-in-law, xxvii, xxviii, 105, 

153, 181, 183, 190-193, 194, 

196, 205, 207-211, 213-218, 

220-222, 243, 249, 250, 251, 

264, 267, 273, 274, 342, 343, 

349. 377, 432, 442 
'Ali b. Abi Talib, public 

cursing of, 205 
'Ali b. -Mansur, Shaykh, 319 
'Ali b. Musa b. Ja'far al-Rida, 

262, 385 
'Alids, the, 258, 259, 337. See 

'Ali b. Abi Talib and Shi- 

'ites, the 



INDEX 



483 



Allah, 62, 134, 135, 164, 231, 
392 

Allah, the Muhammadan con- 
ception of, 225, 231 
Almaqa, 18 
Almeria, 421 

Almohades, the, 217, 429, 431- 
434 

Almoravides, the, 423, 429- 
43i 

Alp Arslan (Seljuq), 275, 276, 

340, 379 
Alphabet, the South Arabic, 

6, 8, 12 
Alphonso VI of Castile, 422, 

423, 431 
'Alqama b. 'Abada (poet), 121, 

123, 128 
'Alqama b. Dhi Jadan (poet), 

12 

Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, 

414 
Amaj, 22 
-Amali, 420 

-Amaliq (Amalekites), 2, 3, 63 
'Amidu '1-Mulk al-Kunduri, 
379 

-Amin, the Caliph, 255, 262, 
293, 343 

Amina, mother of the Pro- 
phet, 146 

'Amir b. Sa'sa'a (tribe), 119 

'Amir b. Uhaymir, 87 

Amiru '1-Mu'minin (Com- 
mander of the Faithful), 
185 

Amiru '1-Umara (title), 264 
'Amr, the Tubba', 25, 26 
'Amr b. 'Adi b. Nasr, 35, 36, 
37, 40 

'Amr b. 'Amir (tribe), 94 
'Amr b. 'Amir Ma' al-Sama 

al-Muzayqiya, 15, 16, 49 
'Amr b. - : As, 192 
'Amr b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 

50, 54, 122 
'Amr b. Hind (Lakhmite), 44, 

107, 108, 109, 112 
'Amr b. Kulthum (poet), 44, 

82, 102, 109-113, 128, 269 
'Amr b. Luhayy, 63, 64 
'Amr b. Ma'dikarib, 82 
'Amr b. Mas'ud, 43 
'Amr b. 'Ubayd, 223, 374 
'Amr b. Zarib, 35 
Amul, 350 
Anas, 88" 
'anatira, 459 
'Anaza (tribe), xix 
-Anbar, 38 

-Anbari (philologist), 128 
-Anbat, xxv. See Naba- 

tceans, Hie 
Ancient Sciences, the, 282 
-Andarin, 111 

Angels, the Recording, 161 
Angora, 104 

-Ansar (the Helpers) 171, 241 
'Antar, the Romance of, 34, 
459 

'Antara (poet), 76, 109, 114- 
116, 128, 459 



1 'antari, 459 

I Anthologies of Arabic poetry, 
128-130, 289, 325, 343, 347, 
348, 417 

I Anthropomorphism, 369, 376, 

379. 432 
Antioch, 43 

I Anushirwan (Sasanian king). 

See Nushirwan 
Anushirwan b. Khalid, 329 
Aphrodite, 43 

-'Aqida, by 'Izzu '1-Din b. 

'Abd al-Salam, 461 
'Aqil, 35 

Arab horses, the training of, 

226 

Arab singers in the first cen- 
tury A.H., 236 

a'rabi (Bedouin), 210 

Arabia, in the 'Abbasid period, 
276 

Arabia Felix, xvii, 4. See 

-Yemen 
Arabian History, three periods 

of, xxvi 
Arabian Nights, the, 238, 256, 

261, 292, 421, 456-459 
Arabic language, the, xvi, 

xvii, xxi-xxv, 6, 77, 201, 
203, 239, 265, 277-280, 336, 
342, 344 

Arabic literature, largely the 

work of non-Arabs, xxx, 

xxxi, 276-278 
Arabic Press, the, 469 
Arabic writing, 201 ; oldest 

specimens of, xxi, xxii 
Arabs, the Ishmaelite, xviii 
Arabs of Khurasan, the. 

thoroughly Persianised, 250 
Arabs, the Northern. See 

Arabs, the Ishmaelite 
Arabs, the Northern and 

Southern, racial enmity 

between, xx, 199, 200, 252, 

405, 406 
Arabs, the Southern, xvii, 

xviii, xx, 4. See Arabs, the 
Yemenite 

Arabs, the Yemenite, xvii, 
xviii, xx, 38, 55, 199, 252, 
405, 406. See Sabatans, tlie ; 
Himyarites, ttie 

Arabs, the Yoqtanid, xviii. 
See Arabs, the Yemenite 

Aramaeans, the, xv, xxv 

Aramaic language, the, xvi, 
xxv, 279, 375 

-Araqim, 113, 114 

Arbela, 451 

Ardashir Babakan, founder of 
the Sasanian dynasty, 34, 38 

'Ap&Oag rov raj3dXa, 51 

Arhakim, 11 

'arif (gnostic), 386 

'Arifu '1-Zanadiqa, 373 

Aristocracy of Islam, the, 188, 
100 

Aristotle, 358, 359, 360 
-'Arji (poet), 237 
Armenia, xv, 352 
Arnaud, Th., 9, 15, 17 



Arnold, F. A., 105, 107, 109. 

in, 113, 114 
Arnold, T. W., 184, 223, 224 
Arsacids, the, 21, 38 
Aryat, 27, 28 

-'Asa (name of a mare), 36 
I 'asabiyya, 440 
l Asad (tribe), xix, 104 
! As ad Kamil, the Tubba', 12, 
j 19-23, 25, 26, 137 
j Asad b. Musa, 247 

Asal, 433 
I asalib, 289, 315 
I Ascalon, 456 

Ascension of the Prophet, the, 
169, 403 

Asd (tribe), 19 

-A'sha (poet), 16, 101, 121, 123- 

125, 128, 138, 139 
-Ash'ari (Abu '1-Hasan), 284, 

376-379, 431 

Ash'arites, the, 379, 380, 460 
Ash'aru 'l-Hudhaliyyin, 128 
-Ashram (surname of Abraha), 
28 

Asia, xv, 275, 352, 414 
Asia, Central, 255 
Asia Minor, 269, 399, 434, 446 
Asia, Western, xvi, xxix, 358, 

442, 444, 446 
aslama, 153 

-Asma'i (philologist), 261, 343, 

344- 345, 459 
Assassins, the, 272, 371, 372, 

381, 445 
Assyrians, the, xv 
Assyrian language, the, xvi 
Astrologers and Astronomers, 

361 

Astronomy, 276, 283 
Aswad b. -Mundhir, 47 
-Athar al-Baqiya, 361 
Atharu 'l-Bilad, 416 
Athens, 240, 358 
'Athtar, Athtor (Sabaean 

divinity), 11, 18 
Atlal, 286 

'Attar (Persian mystic). See 

Faridu'ddin 'Attar 
'Atwada, 28 
Aurelian, 34 
Aurora, 412 

Avempace. See Ibn Bajja 
Avenzoar, 434 
Averroes. See Ibn Rushd 
Avicenna. See Ibn Sina 
awa'il (origins), 247 
'Awarifu 'l-Ma'arif, 230, 338 
-'Awfi, 370 
awliya (saints). 393 
Awrangzib (Mogul Emperor) 
xxx 

Aws (tribe), 170 
Aws b. Hajar (poet), 131 
Awwam Dhu 'Iran Alu, 11 
ay at (verse of the Koran, 

sign, miracle), 166 
Ayatu '1-Kursi (the Throne- 
verse), 176 
Aybak, 447 

-Ayham b. -Harith (Ghas- 
sanid), 50 



484 



INDEX 



' Ayn Jalut, battle of, 446 
'Ayn Ubagh, battle of, 52 
ayyamu 'l-'Arab, 55, 356 
Ayyubid dynasty, the, 275, 

447, 453 
Azd (tribe), 79, 374 
-Azhar, the mosque, 395 
Azraqites (-Azariqa), the, 208 , 

239 



B 



Baalbec, 111 

Bab al-Mandab, 5 

Babak, 258, 375 

Babar (Mogul Emperor), 

xxix, 444 
Babylon, xxv, 38 
Babylonia, 34, 38, 138, 253, 

255, 3°7- See -Iraq 
Babylonians, the, xv 
Babylonian and Assyrian 

inscriptions, the, xvi, xxv 
Badajoz, 421, 423 
Badis, 428 

Badi'u '1-Zaman al-Hama- 

dhani, 328, 329, 331 
Badr, battle of, 158, 174, 175 
Badr, freedman of 'Abdu 

'1-Rahman the Umayyad, 

405, 406 
-Baghawi, 337 

Baghdad, xxviii, xxix, 131, 
182, 254, 255-256, 290-293, 
303, 307, 313- 311, 315, 326, 
338, 340, 345, 346, 347, 35o. 
351, 352, 355, 357, 359, 362, 
365, 369, 376, 380, 382, 385, 
387, 392, 399. 412, 415, 418, 
431, 441, 444-546, 447, 449, 
450, 458, 461, 465, 466 

Baghdad, history of its 
eminent men, by -Khatib, 
355 

Baha'u 'l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 

267, 314 
Bahdala (tribe), 87 
Bahira, the monk, 148 
Bahman (Sasanian), 457 
Bahram Gor (Sasanian), 40, 41 
-Bahrayn (province). 107, 108, 

186 

Bahri Mamelukes, the, 447 

Baiu, 445 

-Bakharzi, 348 

Bakil (tribe), 12 

Bakr (tribe), xix, 55-60, 61, 69, 

70, 76, 93, 107, 109, ri 3, 114, 

242 

-Bakri (geographer), 357, 428 
Balaam, 73 

-Baladhuri (historian), 280, 
349 

-balagh al-akbar, 371 
Balak, 73 
-Bal'ami, 265, 352 
Balaq (mountain), 17 
Balkh, 232, 233, 259, 361, 385 
-Balqa, 63 

Banat Su'ad, the opening 
words of an ode, 119, 127, 
327 



Banu '1-Ahrar, 29 

Banu Hind, 58 

Banu Khaldun, 437 

Banu Musa, 359 

Banu Nahshal, 243 

Baptists, name given to the 

early Moslems, 149 
Baqqa, 36 

-Baramika, 259. See Barme- 
cides, the 

Barbier de Meynard, 13, 15, 
37, 195, 259, 350, 352, 353, 
38o, 457 

Bardesanes, 364 

Barmak, 259 

Barmakites, the. See Barme- 
cides, the 

Barmecides, the, 255, 259- 
261, 262, 293 

Barquq, Sultan (Mameluke), 
452 

Bashama, 119 

Bashshar b. Burd, 245, 277, 
290, 373-374, 375 

-basit (metre), 75 

-Basra, xxiv, 127, 133, 134. 
186, 189, 195, 202, 209, 210, 
215, 222, 223, 225, 226, 233, 
242, 243, 246, 273, 281, 293, 
294, 329, 331, 336, 341, 342, 
343, 345, 346, 369, 370, 374, 
377, 378 

Basset, R., 327 

-Basus, 56 

-Basus, the War of, 55-60, 61, 

76, 107, 114 
-Batiniyya (Batinites), 381, 

382, 402. See Isma'ilis, 

Vie 

-Battani, 361 
-bayan, 283 

-Bay an al-Mnghrib, 407 
Bayard, 191 

Bayazid of Bistam, 460. See 
Abu Yazid al-Bistami 

Baybars, Sultan (Mameluke), 
447, 448 

-Baydawi, 145, 179 

bayt (verse), 74, 77 

Baytu '1-Hikma, at Baghdad, 
359 

-Bazbaz, 60 

Bedouin view of life, the, 136 
Bedouin warfare, character 

of, 54, 55 
Bedouin women, Mutanabbi's 

descriptions of, 310 
Benu Marthadim, 11 
Berber insurrection in Africa, 

405 

Berbers, the, 204, 274, 405- 
409, 413, 420, 423, 424, 429- 
432, 442, 443 

Berbers, used as mercenaries, 

407 

Berlin Royal Library, 8, 12 

Bevan, Prof. A. A., 46, 80, 151, 
166, 168, 199, 205, 239, 244, 
253. 356, 373, 374- 375 

Beyrout, 238, 469 

Bibliographical Dictionary, 
by Hajji Khalifa, 456 



Bibliotheca Geographorum 

Arabicorum, 356 
Bidpai, the Fables of, 330, 

346 
Bilqis, 18 

-Bimaristan al-'Adudi, 266 
Biographies of poets, 346, 347, 
348 

Birnam Wood, 25 

-Biruni (Abu Rayhan), 269, 

280, 361 
Bishr b. Abi Khazim (poet), 

86 

Bishr al-Hafi, 228 
Bishr b. -Mu'tamir, 369 
Bistam, 391 

Black, J. S., 184, 249, 258 
Black, the colour of the 

'Abbasids, 220, 262 
Black Stone in the Ka'ba, 

the, 63, 274, 319, 467 
Blunt, Lady Anne, 88, 101 
Blunt, Wilfrid, 88, 101 
Bobastro, 410 
Boer, T. J. de, 433 
Bohlen, 308, 312 
Bokhara, 203, 265, 275, 360 
Book of Examples, the, by 

Ibn Khaldun, 437 
Book of Sibawayhi, the, 343 
Book of the Thousand Tales, 

the See Hazar Afsan 
Book of Viziers, the, 458 
Books, the Six Canonical, 

337 

Boswell, 144, 313, 452 
Brethren of Purity, the, 370- 
372 

British Museum, the 12, 402 
Brockelmann, C. , 205, 236, 

237, 308, 328, 339, 346, 349, 

449, 459. 4 68 , 469 
Browne, Prof. E. G., 29, 42, 

185, 217, 218, 230, 247, 251, 

258, 265, 272, 275, 290, 329, 

346, 362, 375, 381, 383, 394, 

399, 445 
Briinnow, R. E., 32, 35, 49, 

51, 209, 210 
Brutus, 252 
Bu'ath, battle of, 170 
Buddha, 297, 298 
Buddhism, 373, 375, 390, 391. 

See Nirvana 
-Buhturi (poet), 130, 316, 

324 

Bujayr b. 'Amr, 58 
Bukhara. See Bokhara 
-Bukhari, 144, 146, 151, 337 
Bulaq, 469 
Bunyan, 212 

Burckhardt, 95, 465, 466, 467 

Burd, 373 

-Burda, 326, 327 

-bur da (the Prophet's mantle) 
327, 366 

Burji Mamelukes, the, 447 

Burns, Robert, 450 

burnus, the, a mark of asceti- 
cism, 210 

Burton, Sir Richard, 459 

Busir, 326 



INDEX 



485 



-Busiri (poet), 326, 327 
Buthayna, 238 

Butrites, the, a Shi'ite sect, 
297 

Buwavhid dynasty, the, 264, 
266-268, 271, 275, 303, 338 

Byzantine Empire, the, 3, 29, 
46, 171, 255, 261, 269, 359 



Cadiz, 405 
Caesar, 252 

Caetani, Prince, 149, 155, 156, 
171 

Cairo, 275, 350, 394, 395, 437, 
447, 448, 451, 452, 453. 454, 
455, 45S, 461, 464, 469 

Caliph, the, must belong to 
Quraysh, 207 

Caliph, name of the, men- 
tioned in the Friday ser- j 
mon, 263, 264 ; stamped 
on the coinage, 264 ; title I 
of, assumed by the Fati- 
mids, 271 ; by the Umay- 
yads of Spain, 412 

Caliphs, the, -Mas'udi's ac- 
count of, 354 

Caliphs, the 'Abbasid. See 
'Abbasids, tlie 

Caliphs, the Orthodox, xxiii, 
xxvii, 181-193 

Caliphs, the Umayyad. See 
Umayyad dynasty, the 

Calpe, 204 

Canaanites. the, 3 

Canonical Books, the Six, 337 

Capuchins, the, 228 

Carmathians, the, 272, 274, 
322, 324, 371, 375. 38i, 467- 
See Fatimid dynasty ; 
Ism a' i lis 

Carmona, 437 

Casanova, P., 371 

Caspian Sea, the, xxviii, 21, 

- 264, 266, 350, 352, 391 

Castile, 422, 437 

Castles of -Yemen, the, 24 

Catharine of Siena, 233 

Cathay, xxv 

Caussin de Perceval, 32 

Cave-dwellers of Khurasan, 
the, 232 

Celibacy condemned by Mu- 
hammad, 224 

Cemetery of the Sufis, the, at 
Damascus, 463 

Ceuta, 405, 412, 423, 434 

Ceylon, 352 

Chagar Beg, 275 

Charles the Hammer, 204 

Charter, the, drawn up by 
Muhammad for the people 
of Medina, 173 

Chaucer, 289 

Chauvin, Victor, 214 

Chenery, T., 244, 328, 332, 
333> 336 

Chihrazad, 457 

China, 203, 352, 419, 444 



Chingiz Khan, 444 

Christian poets who wrote in 
Arabic, 138, 139 

Christianity in Arabia, 117, 
137-140 ; in Ghassan, 51, 54, 
123 ; at -Hira, 39, 41, 43, 44, 
46, 49, 123, 124, 138 ; in 
Najran, 26, 27, 124, 137; in 
Moslem Spain, 407, 411, 
412, 413, 414-415, 431, 435, 
441 

Christianity, influence of, on 
Muhammadan culture, xxii, 
176, 177, 216, 221, 231, 389, 
390 

Christians, supposed by Mos- 
lems to wear a girdle, 461 

Christians, Monophysite, 51 

Christians at the Umayyad 
court, 221, 240, 241 

Chronology of Ancient Na- 
tions, the, by -Biruni, 361 

Church and State, regarded 
as one by Moslems, 170, 
182, 197 

Chwolsohn, 363 

Classicism, revolt against, 
287-289 

Cleopatra, 34 

Coinage, Arabic, introduced 

by 'Abdu '1-Malik, 201 
Commercial terms derived 

from Arabic, 281 
Companions of the Prophet, 

biographies of the, 144, 356, 

456 

Confession of faith, the Mu- 
hammadan, 403 

Conquests, the early Muham- 
madan, work on the, 349 

Constantinople, xxix, 29, 45, 
52, 84, 104, 31S, 362, 412 

Cordova, 131, 341, 347, 406- 
411, 412, 413-415, 418, 420- 
426, 428, 434, 435 

Cordova, the University of, 
420 

Courage, Arabian, the nature 
of, 82 

Criticism of Ancient and 

Modern Poets, 283-289 
Cromwell, 189 
Crusade, the Third, 275 
Crusaders, the, 331, 447 
Cruttenden, 8 

Ctesiphon, 47, 48, 210. See 

-Madain 
Cureton, 211, 216, 341 



Dabba (tribe), xix 

-Dahab al-'Ijli, 44 

Dahis (name of a horse), 61 

Dahis and -Ghabra, the War 

of, 61, 62, 114, 116 
-dahriyyun, 381 
da'i (missionary), 249, 272 
-Daja'ima, 50 

-Dajjal (the Antichrist), 216 
dakhil, 95 



Damascus, xxi, xxviii, 13, 46, 
51, 53, 54, in, 181, 194, 195, 
202, 203, 207, 235, 240, 241, 
242, 244, 247, 252, 255, 274, 
304, 313, 335. 340. 374, 386 
399, 408, 451, 462, 463 

-Damigh, 375 

Daniel, 162 

Dante, 360 

dapir (Secretary), 257 
Daqiqi, Persian poet, 265 
Daraya, 386 
Darius, 256 
Darmesteter, J., 217 
Daru 'l-Rum(Constantinople), 
362 

Daughters, the birth of, re- 
garded as a misfortune, 91 , 
156 

Daughters of Allah, the, 135, 
156 

Davidson, A. B., 82 
dawidar (dawadar), 445 
Daws Dhu Tha'laban, 27 
-Daylam, 266 
Dead Sea, the, 249 
Decline of the Caliphate, 257, 
263 

Derenbourg, H., 54, 122, 123, 
194, 260, 331, 445, 454 

Dervish orders, the, 393 

Desecration of the tombs of 
the Umayyad Caliphs, 205 

-Dhahabi (Shamsu 1-Din), his- 
torian, 339, 446, 454 

Dhamar'ali Dhirrih, 10 

Dhu 'l-Khalasa, name of an 
idol, 105 

Dhu '1-Khursayn (name of a 
sword), 96 

Dhu '1-Majaz, 114 

Dhu Xafar, 66, 67 

Dhu 'l-Xun al-Misri, 386-388, 
389, 460 

Dhu 1-Nusur (surname), 2 

Dhu Xuwas, 12, 26-27, 137 
162 

Dhu Qar, battle of, 69, 70 
Dhu 1-Qarnayn, 17, 18 
Dhu 'l-Quruh (title), 104 
Dhu Ru'ayn, 25, 26 
Dhu '1-Rumma (poet), 246 
Dhu 'l-'Umrayn, nickname of 

Ibnu '1-Khatib, 436 
Dhu '1-Wizaratayn (title), 425 
Dhubyan (tribe), xix, 61, 62 

116, 117, 121 
Diacritical points in Arabic 

script, 201 
Di'bil (poet), 261, 375 
Dictionaries, Arabic, 343, 403, 

456 

Didactic poem by Abu '1- 

'Atahiya, 300 
Diercks, 360 

Dieterici, F., 270, 305, 307 

308, 310, 312, 313, 371 
dihqan, 291 
Diminutives, 396, 449 
din (religion), 178, 287 
Dinarzad, 457 
Dinarzade, 457 



486 



INDEX 



-Dinawar, 346 

-Dinawari (historian), 251,349 
Dinazad, 457 
Diodorus Siculus, 3 
Dionysius the Areopagite, 387, 
389 

Dirge, the Arabian, 126 
-Dir'iyya, 466 
dithar, 152 

Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz, 298 
Divine Right, the Shi'ite 

theory of, 214, 271 
diwan (collection of poems), 

127, 128 
Diwan (Register) of 'Umar, 

the, 187, 188 
Diwans of the Six Poets, the, 

128 

diya (blood-wit), 93 
-Diyarbakri (historian), 445 
Dog.the, regarded by Moslems 

as unclean, 445 
Doughty, E. M., 3 
Dozy, 214, 399, 407, 410, 411, 

413, 414- 4 r 5, 4 2 °. 4", 424. 

428, 429, 431, 465, 467 
Drama, the, not cultivated by 

the Semites, 328 
Drinking parties described in 

Pre-islamic poetry, 124, 125, 

167 

Droit du seigneur, le, 4 
dubayt (a species of verse), 

450 
Dubeux, 352 
Duka, T., 390 
Dumas, 272 
Dumyatu 'l-Qasr, 348 
Duns Scotus, 367 
Durayd b.-Simma, 83 
Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd, 75 
Durratu 'l-Ghawwas, 336 
Duwalu 'l-Islam, 446 
Dvorak, R., 304 
Dyke of Ma'rib, the, 2, 5, 14- 

17, 50, 63 
Dynasties of the 'Abbasid 

period, 264-276 



E 

Eber, xviii 

Ecbatana, 129, 328. See 
Hamadhan 

Ecstasy, 387, 393, 394 

Edessa, 331, 358 

Egypt, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 4, 5, 
132, 184, 186, 193, 215, 268, 
274- 275. 307, 323, 326, 327, 
35o, 354- 355, 1358, 387-390, 
399, 419, 432, 434- 442. 443, 
447, 448, 450, 451, 454, 460, 
461, 464, 466, 468 

Egypt, conquest of, by the 
Moslems, 184 

Egypt, History of, by Ibn 
Taghribirdi, 454 

Eichhorn, xv 

Elegiac poetry, 126, 127 

Elephant, the Sura of the, 68 

Elephant, the year of the, 28, 
66, 146 



Eloquence, Arabian, 346, 347 
Emanation, Plotinus's theory 

of, 393 
Emessa, 304 

Encomium of the Umayyad 
dynasty, by -Akhtal, 242 

Epic poetry not cultivated by 
the Arabs, 325 

Equality of Arabs and non- 
Arabs maintained by the 
Shu'ubites, 279, 280 

Equites Thamudeni, 3 

Erotic prelude, the. See nasib 

Erpenius, 355 

Essenes, the, 224 

Euphrates, the, xv, 33, 36, 37, 
38, 41, 53, no, 113, 186, 189, 
192, 196, 256, 418, 443, 449 

Euting, Julius, 9 



F 

Fables of beasts, considered 
useful and instructive, 330 

-Fadl, the Barmecide, 260 

-Fadl b. al-Rabi', 293 

-Fahl (surname), 125 

Fahm (tribe), 81 

Fairs, the old Arabian, 135 

-Fakhri, 187, 188, 194, 203, 260, 
331, 445. 4S4 

Fakhru '1-Dawla (Buwayhid), 
267 

Fakhru '1-Mulk, 340 
Falcon of Quraysh, the, 407, 
417 

-falsafa (Philosophy), 283 
fana (self-annihilation), 233, 

39i 
fanak, 53 
faqih, 464 

faqir (fakir), 230, 464 
faqr (poverty), 230 
Farab, 360 

-Farabi (Abu Nasr), 270, 360, 

393 

-Farazdaq(poet), 196, 238, 239, 

240, 242-244, 245, 246 
-Farghani, 361 

Faridu'ddin 'Attar, 226, 228, 

386 

-Farqadan (name of two 

stars), 35 
-Farra, 343 
Farrukh-mahan, 45 
Fars (province), 266 
Fathers, the Christian, 341 
-Faliha, 143 

Fatima, daughter of -Khur- 

shub, 88 
Fatima, daughter of the 

Prophet, 183, 218, 250, 251, 

258, 267, 274 
Fatima (mother of Qusayy), 

64 

Fatima, a woman loved by 

Imru'u 1-Qays, 106 
Fatimid dynasty, the, 217, 265, 

268, 269, 271-275, 322, 371, 

412 
-Fatra, 152 



Fawatu 'l-Wafayat, 449, 452 
Faylasufu 'l-'Arab (title), 360. 

See -Kindi 
Faymiyun (Phemion), 26 
Ferdinand I of Castile, 422 
Ferdinand III of Castile, 434 
Ferdinand V of Castile, 441 
Fez, 436 

-fiqh (Jurisprudence), 283 ; 

denoting law and theology, 

339, 420, 465 
Fihr (tribe), xix 
-Fihtist, 13, 142, 345, 359, 361- 

364, 387, 457 
-Find, 58, 60, 84 
Firdawsi, Persian poet, 265, 

269 

Firuz (Firuzan), father of Ma- 

'ruf al-Karkhi, 385 
Firuz, a Persian slave, 189 
-Firuzabadi (Majdu '1-Din), 

403, 456 
Fleischer, 400, 404 
Flint, Robert, 441 
Fluegel, G,, 142, 297, 362, 364, 

459 

Folk-songs, Arabic, 238, 416- 

417, 449-450 
Fons Vital, 428 

Foreigners, Sciences of the, 
282, 283 

Forgery of Apostolic Tradi- 
tions, 145, 146, 279 

Forgery of Pre-islamic poems, 
133, 134 

France, 9, 412, 469 

Frederick II of Hohen- 
staufen, 434, 441 

Free schools, founded by 
Hakam II, 419 

Free-thought in Islam, 283. 
284, 298, 345, 460. See 
Muiazilites and Zindiqs 

Free-will, the doctrine of , 223, 
224 

Freytag, G. W., 16, 31, 48, 50, 
55. 73, 89, 91, 109, 129, 292, 
373 

Friedlaender, I., 428 

Frothingham, 389 

-Fudayl b. 'Iyad, 232, 233, 

385 
-fuhul, 138 
Fukayha, 89 

-funun al-sab'a (the seven 

kinds of poetry), 450 
Fuqaym (tribe), 28 
-Fusid wa- l-Ghayat, 318 
Fususu 'l-Hikam, 400, 401 
-Futithat al-Makkiyya, 400, 
464 

Future life, Pre-islamic 
notions of the, 166 



G 

Gabriel, 63, 141, 150. 267 
Galen, 358 
Galland, 458 
Gallienus, 33 
Gaulonitis, the, 53 



INDEX 



487 



Gaza, 5 
Geber, 361 
Geiger, 162 

Genealogy, Muhammadan, 
xx. 

Genealogy, treatise on, by 

Ibu Dnrayd, 343 
Genesis, Book of, xv 
Geographers, the Moslem, 

356, 357 
George -Makin, 355 
Georgians, the, 445 
Germany, 8, 412 
Gesenius, 8 

-Ghabra (name of a mare), 61 
-Gharid, 236 
-Ghariyyan, 43 

Ghassan, xxii, 33, 37, 38, 42, 
43, 121, 122, 138, 139, 158,332 

Ghassanids, the, 33, 49-54, 122 

Ghassanid court, the, de- 
scribed by Hassan b. 
Thabit, 53 

Ghatafan (tribe), xix, 61 

-Ghawl, 119 

ghayba (occupation), 216 
Ghayman (castle), 24 
Ghayz b. Murra, 117 
Ghazala, 339 

-Ghazali, 230, 234, 277, 338- 
341, 380-383, 393. 43 1, 463 

Ghazan, 446 

Ghaziyya (tribe), 83 

Ghazna, 268-269, 355 

Ghaznevid dynasty, the, 265, 
268-269, 271, 275 

ghiyar, 461 

Ghiyathu '1-Din Mas'ud 

(Seljuq), 326, 329 
-Ghulat (the extreme Shi'ites), 
216 

Ghumdan (castle), 24 
Gibb, E. J. W., 443, 460 
Gibbon, 439 

Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq), 204, 
414 

Glaser, E., 9, 15 

Gnosis, the Sufi doctrine of, 
386, 387 

Gnosticism, 389, 390 

Gobineau, Comte de, 320 

Goeje, M. J. de, 179, 180, 253, 
256, 257, 287, 322, 349, 350, 
351, 353, 354, 356, 366, 371, 
409 

Goethe, 97 

Gog and Magog, 18 

Golden Meadows, the. See 
Muruju 'l-Dhahab and 
-Mas'udi 

Goldziher, Ignaz, xx, xxii, 10, 
18, 30, 73, 90, 119, 145, 177, 
178, 199, 200, 221, 225, 246, 
278, 279, 280, 285, 287, 289, 
297, 298, 315, 344, 345, 366, 
368, 370, 372, 374, 379, 390, 
409, 431, 433, 466 

Gospel, the, 165, 171 

Grammar, Arabic, the origin 
of, 202, 278, 282, 341-343, 
363 

Grammars, Arabic, 343, 456 



Granada, 421, 424, 42S, 431, 

434, 435-437, 44*. 44 2 > 447 
Gray, T., 77 

Greece, 131, 296, 361, 434 
Greece, the influence of, on 
Muhammadan thought, 
220, 221, 229, 266, 338-361, 
363, 369, 37o, 386, 388 
Greek Philosophers, the, 341, 
363 

Green, the colour of the 

'Alids, 262 
Grimme, H., xv, 10 
Griinert, M., 346 
Guadalquivir, the, 422 
Guest, A. R., 453 
Guirgass, 251 
Guyon, Madame, 233 



H 

Haarbriicker, 220, 221, 223, 

224, 297 
Habib b. Aws. See Abu 

Tammam 
-Hadi, the Caliph, 260, 373 
Hadiqatn 'l-Afrah, 449 
-hadith (Traditions of the 
Prophet), 132, 134, 143-146, 
201, 247, 258, 348. See 
Traditions of the Prophet 
Hadramawt (province), 1, 5, 
42 

Hadrian, 137 
Hafsa, 142 

Hafsid dynasty, the, 442 
Hagar. See Hajar, wife of 

Abraham 
Hajar (in -Bahrayn), 94, 96 
Hajar, wife of Abraham, 

xviii, 63 
-Hajjaj b. Yusuf, 200, 201-203, 

209, 213. 244 
Hajji Khalifa, 456 
-Hakam I (Spanish Umay- 

yad), 409 
-Hakam II (Spanish Umay- 

yad), 412, 419 
hakim (philosopher), 387 
hal, mystical term, 387 
Halbatu 'l-Kumayt, 417 
Halevy, Joseph, 9 
Halila, 56 

Halima, the Prophet's nurse, 
147 

Halima, daughter of -Harith 

al-A'raj, 50 
Halima, the battle of, 43, 50, 

5i. 125 
Halle, 8 
Ham, xv 

hama (owl or wraith), 94, 
166 

Hamadhan (Ecbatana), 129, 

292, 328, 333 
-Hamadhani, 328. SeeBadi'u 

'l-Zaman 
Hamal b. Badr, 61, 88 
-Hamasa, of Abu Tammam, 

55, 57-6i, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 

87, 92, 93, 98, 100, 126, 129- 



130, 136, 137, 199, 213, 324, 
33i 

-Hamasa, of -Buhturi, 130, 324 
hamasa (fortitude), 79, 326 
Hamat, 454 

-Hamaysa' b. Himyar, 12 
Hamdan, 19 
Hamdan Qarmat, 274 
-Hamdani (geographer), 6, 11, 

12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24 
Hamdanid dynasty, the, 268, 

269-271, 291, 303' 
Hamilton, Terrick, 459 
Hammad al-Rawiya, 103, 113 

128, 132-134, 344 
Hammer, J. von, 30S, 316, 

396, 459 
Hamza of Isfahan (historian), 

14, 280 
Hanbalites, the, 376, 462 
handasa (geometry), 283 
Hani', a chieftain of Bakr, 69 
Hanifa (tribe), 183 
Hanifs, the, 69, 149, 130, 170, 

3i8 

Hanzala of Tayyi', 44 
haqiqat, mystical term, 392 
-haqq, mystical term, 392 
Haram (tribe), 331 
Harim b. Sinan, 61, 116, 117, 
288 

-Hariri, author of the Maqa- 

mat, 3 2 9-336 
-Harith al-Akbar. See-Hanth 

b. Amr Muharriq 
-Harith b. 'Amr (Kindite), 42, 

44, 103, 104 
-Harith b. 'Amr Muharriq 

(Ghassanid), 50 
-Harith al-A'raj (Ghassanid), 

43. 50, 54- 125. See -Harith 

b. Jabala 
-Hanth b. 'Awf, 6i, 116, 117 
-Harith b. Hammam, 330, 

331, 333 

-Harith b. Hilliza (poet), 44, 
ioo, 109, 113-114, 128 

-Harith b. Jabala (Ghassanid), 
43, 50, 51, 52. See -Harith 
al-A'raj 

-Harith al-Ra'ish, 17 

-Harith b. Surayj, 222 

-Harith b. 'Ubad, 58, 59 

-Harith the Younger (Ghas- 
sanid), 50 

-Harith b. Zalim, 85 

-harj, 249 

Har'ran, 221, 358, 361, 462 

Harran, the bilingual inscrip- 
tion of, xxii 

Hartmann, M., 450, 468 

Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph, 
xxix, 255, 258, 259, 260-261, 
262, 277, 283, 292, 293, 296, 
298, 343, 345, 347, 366, 367, 
368, 373, 385, 388, 458, 459 

Harura, 208 

Harwat, 11 

hasab, 100 

Hasan (Buwayhid), 266 
-Hasan of -Basra, 208, 222, 
223,223-227, 230, 243, 244, 294 



488 



INDEX 



-Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani, 

ii. See -Hamdani 
-Hasan b. 'Ali, the Nizamu 

1-Mulk, 276. See Nizamu 

'UMulk 

-Hasan b. 'Ali b. Abi Talib, 

216, 297 
-Hasan al-Burini, 396 
-Hasan b. -Sabbah, 445 
Hashid (tribe), 12 
Hashim, 65, 146, 250 
-Hashimiyya (Shi'ite sect), 

220, 251 
Hassan b. Thabit (poet), 18, 

52, 53, 54, 127 
Hassan (son of As'ad Kamil) 

the Tubba', 19, 23, 25 
Hatim of Tayyi', 85-87, 288 
Hawazin (tribe), xix 
Hayy b. Yaqzan, 433 
Hayyum, 19 

Hazar Afsan (Hazar Afsana), 

363, 457-458 
-Haziri (Abu '1-Ma'ali), 348 
Hazzu 'l-Ouhuf, 450 
HebrewsTthe, xv 
Hebrew language, the, xvi 
Hellespont, the, xxix 
Helpers, the. See -Ansar 
Hengstenberg, 102 
Heraclius, 52 

Heresies of the Caliph 

-Ma'mun, 262 
Herodotus, 353 
Hierotheus, 389 
hija (satire), 73, 294 
-Hijaz, xvii, 3, 21, 62, 63, 64, 

69, 137, 149, 150, 215, 340, 
395. 398, 399. 465. 466 

-Hijr, the inscriptions of, xxi, 
3 

-Hijra (Hegira), xxv, 158, 171 
-Hilla, 449 

Hilyatu 'l-Awliya, 338 
himaq (a species of verse), 

45o 
Hims, 304 

Himyar (person), 14 
Himyar (people), xxv, 1, 6, 

10, 17, 24, 25, 26, 429 
Himyarites, the, xviii, xx, xxi, 

4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 17, 23, 26 
Himyarite kings, the, 9, 10, 

12, 13, 14, 17-27. See 

Tubba' s, the 
Himyarite language, the, xvi, 

xvii, xxi, 6— 11 
Himyarite Ode, tJie, 12, 13 
Hind, mother of Bakr and 

Taghlib, 58 
Hind (a Bedouin woman), 46 
Hind, daughter of -Nu'man 

III, 46, 47 
Hind, wife of -Mundhir III, 

44- 45, no 
Hinwam (hili), 20 
-Hira, xxii, xxiii, 29, 33, 34, 

37-59, 51. 52, 53. 54. 6 °. 6 9 

70, 85, 87, 103, 107, 108, 109, 
110, 112, 114, 121, 122, 124, 
138, 1.79, 189, 244, 439 

Hira, Mount, 150 



Hirran, 11 

Hirschfeld, H., 151 

Hisham (Umayyad Caliph), 
200, 206, 224, 243 

Hisham I (Spanish Umay- 
yad), 347, 409 

Hisham II (Spanish Umay- 
yad), 412, 421 

Hisham b. Muhammad al- 
Kalbi, 38, 39, 40, 348 

Hisn Ghurab, 8 

Historians, Arab, 11-14, 144, 
247, 348-356, 420, 428, 435- 
440, 452-454 

Historical studies encouraged 
by the Umayyads, 247 

History, the true purpose of, 
437 ; subject to universal 
laws, 438 ; evolution of, 439, 
440 

History of the Berbers, by Ibn 
Khaldun, 429, 435 

History of the Caliphs, by 
-Suyuti, 455 

History of Islamic Civilisa- 
tion, by Jurji Zaydan, 435 

History of Old and New Cairo, 
by -Suyuti, 455 

Holy Ghost, the, 150 

Holy War, the, enjoined by 
the Koran, 174 

Homer, the Iliad of, trans- 
lated into Arabic verse, 469 

Homeritae, the, 5 

Hommel, F., xv, 1 

Honour, Pre-islamic concep- 
tion of, 82-100 

Horace, 326 

Hospitality, the Bedouin 

ideal of, 85 
House of the Prophet, the, 

250. See 'AH b. Abi Talib ; 

'Alids ; Shi'ites. 
Houtsma, Th., 193, 242, 329, 

349 

Huart, C, 468 

Hubal (name of an idol), 64 
Hubba, 64 
Hud (prophet), 2 
Hudhalites (Hudhavlites), 22, 

128. See Hudhayl 
Hudhayfa b. Badr, 61 
Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman, 142 
Hudhayl (tribe), xix, 64, 98, 

99. i°o 
Hughes, G., 80 
Hujr (Kindite), 42 
Hujr, father of Imru'u '1- 

Qays, 104 
Hulagu, xxix, 182, 444-446 
Hulayl b. Hubshiyya. 64 
-Hullat al-Siyara, 418 
Hulton, 8 

hulul (incarnation), 396,402 

Hulwan, 292 

Humani, 457 

-Humayma, 249 

Hunayn b. Ishaq, 359 

hur (houris), 167 

Hurmuz (Sasanian), 47 

Hurufis, the, 460 

-Husayn, son of 'Ali b. Abi 



Talib, 196,197, 198, 216, 218, 

243, 466 
-Husayn b. Damdam, 117 
-Husavn b. -Mansur -Hallaj, 

363,"375. 399 
Husnu ' l-Mithadara, 455 
-Hutay'a (poet), 127, 131, 261 
Hypocrites, the. See -Muna- 

fiqun 
Huzwa, 398 



Iamblichus, 389 

'Ibad, the, of -Hira, 38, 39, 138 

Ibadites (a Kharijite sect), 

the, 211 
-'Ibar, by -Dhahabi, 339 
Ibnu '1-Abbar, 418, 424 
Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi, 102, 131 

347, 420 
Ibn Abi Du'ad, 376 
Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, 266, 355 
Ibn Abi Ya'qub al-Nadim, 362 
Ibn Abi Zar', 429 
Ibnu '1-Ahmar (Nasrid), 435 
Ibn 'A'isha, 236 
Ibnu 'l-'Alqami, 445 
Ibnu 'l-'Amid, 267 
Ibn 'Ammar(poet), 422, 424 
Ibnu 'l-'Arabi. See Muhiyyu 

'l-Din Ibnu 'l-'Arabi 
Ibnu 'l-'Arabi, the Cadi, of 

Seville, 399 
Ibnu '1-A'rabi (philologist), 

128 

Ibn 'Arabshah, 454 

Ibnu '1-Athir, 203, 205, 253, 

355-356, 376, 379. 420, 429 
Ibn Bajja, 361, 434 
Ibn Bashkuwal, 426, 434 
Ibn Bassam, 422, 434 
Ibnu '1-Baytar, 434 
Ibn Durayd, 253, 280, 343 
Ibnu '1-Farid. See 'Umar 

Ibnu 'l-Farid 
Ibn Hajar, 456 

Ibnu '1-Hanafiyya. See Mu- 
hammad Ibnu 'l-Hanafiyya 

Ibn Hani (poet), 419, 420 

Ibn Hawqal, 356 

Ibn Hayyan, 428 

Ibn Hazm, 222, 341, 402, 426- 
428 

Ibn Hisham, 17, 22, 23, 63, 64, 
69, 144, 147, 150, 151. 152, 
154, 156, 158, 166, 170, 173, 
175. 349 

Ibn Humam, 105 

Ibnu 'l-'Idhari, 407, 428, 429 

Ibn Ishaq. 69, 144, 146, 149, 
156, 247, 349 

Ibn Jahwar, 424 

Ibnu '1-Jawzi, 355 

Ibn Jubayr, 357, 434 

Ibn Kabsha, nickname of 
Muhammad, 166 

Ibn Khalawayh, 271 

Ibn Khaldun, 32, 228, 229, 277. 
278, 288, 289, 350, 353. 4 2 9» 
435. 437-440, 443. 452 



INDEX 



489 



Ibn Khallikan, 129, 132, iqo, 
213, 224, 234, 245, 261, 266, 
267, 276. 288, 295, 308, 312, 
326, 343, 344, 346, 348. 355. 
357, 359, 360, 377. 378, 387, 
408, 422, 425, 427. 451-452 

Ibn Khaqan, 425, 434 

Ibnu 1-Khatib, the Vizier, 413, 
435, 436, 437 

Ibn Khidham, 105 

Ibn Khurdadbih, 356 

Ibn Maja, 337 

Ibn Malik of Jaen, 456 

Ibn Mukarram (Jamalu 
•1-Din), 456 

Ibn Muljam, 193 

Ibnu '1-Muqaffa', 330, 3*6, 348, 
358 

Ibnu '1-Mu'tazz (poet), 325 
Ibn Nubata (man of letters), 
61 

Ibn Nubata, the preacher, 

271, 328 
Ibnu '1-Qifti, 355, 37o, 387 
Ibn Qutayba, xviii, 35, 49, 50, 

51, 75, 77, 105, ii7, 145, 202, 

223, 257, 277, 280, 286,287, 

288, 289, 293, 294, 345, 346 
Ibnu '1-Qutiyya, 420 
Ibn Quzman, 417 
Ibn Rashiq, 71, 288 
Ibnu '1-Rawandi, 375 
Ibn Rushd, 341,361, 43 2 ,434 
Ibn Sab'in, 434 
Ibn Sa'd, 144, 256, 349 
Ibnu '1-Sammak, 261 
Ibnu '1-Sikkit, 343 
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), 265, 266, 

341, 360, 361, 393 
Ibn Sirin, 244 
Ibn Surayj, 236 
Ibn Taymiyya, 371, 462, 463, 

465, 466 
Ibnu '1-Tiqtaqa, 454 
Ibn Tufayl, 361, 432, 433, 434 
Ibn Tumart, 431-432 
Ibnu '1-Wahshiyya, xxv 
Ibnu '1-Wardi, 455 
Ibn Zaydun (poet), 419, 424- 

426 

Ibn Zuhr, 434 

Ibrahim (Abraham), xviii, 63. 

See Abraham 
Ibrahim ('Alid), 258 
Ibrahim b. Adham, 232 
Ibrahim b. Hilal al-Sabi, 328 
Ibrahim of Mosul, 261 
Idol-worship at Mecca, 62-64 
Idris, 264 

-Idrisi (geographer), 357, 434 
Idrisid dynasty, the, 264 
Ihya'u 'Ulum al-Din, 230, 

234, 338, 340 
-Iji (Adudu '1-Din), 456 
ijma 1 , 460 
ikhlas, 164 
Ikhmim, 387 
-Ikhtiyarat, 128 
Ikhwanu 'l-Safa, 370-372, 388 
-Iklil, 6, 12, 13, 24 
-ilahiyyun, 382 
Iliad, the, xxii, 325, 469 



Il-Khans, the, xxix, 446 
Il-Makah, 11 

ilmu 'l-hadith (Science of 
Apostolic Tradition), 283 

'ilmu 'l-kalam (Scholastic 
Theology), 283 

'ilmu 'l-nujum (Astronomy), 
283 

'ilmu 'l-qira'at (Koranic 

Criticism), 283 
'ilmu 'l-tafsir (Koranic 

Exegesis), 283 
Hlq, 101 

'Imadu 1-Dawla (Buwayhid), 

266 

'Imadu '1-Din al-Katib al- 

Isfahani, 348, 355 
Imam (head of the religious 

community), 210 
Imam, the Hidden, 216-217, 

371 ; the Infallible, 220, 

432 

Imam-Husayn, a town near 
Baghdad, 466. See Karbala 
-imam al-ma'sum, 432 
Imamites, the, 251 
Imams, the Shi'ite, 214-220 
Imams, the Seven, 217, 273 
Imams, the Twelve, 217 
Imamu l-Haramayn, 339, 
379 

iman (faith), 222 

Imru'u '1-Qays (poet), 42, 84, 

85, 101, 102, 103-107, 128, 

136, 246, 289 
India, 4, 17, 268, 341, 352, 361, 

389 

India, History of, by -Biruni, 
361 

India, the influence of, on 
Moslem civilisation, 361, 
389, 390 

India, Moslem conquests in, 
203, 268 

Indian religion, described by 
-Shahrastani, 341 

Indus, the, xxiv, 203, 264 

Infanticide, practised by the 
pagan Arabs, 149, 243 

Initiation, the Isma'ilite de- 
grees of, 273 

Inquisition (mihna) estab- 
lished by -Ma'mun, 368, 
369 

Inscriptions, the Babylonian 
and Assyrian, xxv, 4" 

Inscriptions, Himyarite. See 
Inscriptions, South Arabic 

Inscriptions, Nabataean, xxv, 3 

Inscriptions, South Arabic, 
xvi, xxi, xxvi, 6-11 

Inspiration, views of the 
heathen Arabs regarding, 
72, 73, 152, 165 

Intellectual and Philosophi- 
cal Sciences, the, 282 

Ionia, the dialect of, xxiii 

-'Iqd al-Farid, 102, 131, 347, 
420 

Iram, 1 

-'Iraq, 34,38, 42, 123, 132, 142, 
201, 202, 207, 208, 243, 244, 



255, 262, 266, 273, 303, 350, 
419, 445. See Babylonia 
-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba, 
456 

Isabella of Castile, 441 
Isaiah, 151 

Isfahan, 14, 131, 268, 280, 326, 
347, 355, 419 

Isfandiyar, 330, 363 

Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili, 
261, 362, 418 

Ishaq b. Khalaf, 92 

Ishmael. See Isma'il 

Isidore of Hispalis, 198 

Islam, meaning of, 153 ; car- 
dinal doctrines of, 163-168 ; 
formal and ascetic cha- 
racter of, 168, 224 ; derived 
from Christianity and 
Judaism, 176, 177; pagan 
elements in, 177 ; opposed 
to the ideals of heathen- 
dom, 177, 178; identified 
with the religion of Abra- 
ham, 62, 177; a world- 
religion, 184 

Isma'il (Ishmael), xviii, 63, 
64 

Isma'il (Samanid), 265 
Isma'il b. 'Abbad, 267. See 

-Sahib Isma'il b. 'Abbad 
Isma'il b. Naghdala, 428 
Isma'ilis, the, 217, 272-274, 

363, 371, 372, 381, 420, 445 
isnad, 144, 278, 352 
-Isnawi, 339 
Israel, 73 
Istakhr, 356 
-Istakhri, 356 
istifa, 228 
Italy, 412, 414, 441 
Ithamara (Sabsean king), 4 
-Ithna -'ashariyya (the 

Twelvers), 217 
I'timad, name of a slave-girl 

422 

-Itqan, 145, 455 
ittihad, 402 
'iyar, 297 
Iyas b. Qabisa, 53 
'Izzu '1-Din b. 'Abd al- 
Salam, 461 



Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar), 204 
Jabala b. -Ayham (Ghassa- 

nid), 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 
-Jabariyya (the Predestina- 

rians), 224 
Jabir b. Hayyan, 361, 387 
jabr (compulsion), 224, 297 
Jacob, G., 74, 76 
Jadala (tribe), 429 
Jadhima al-Abrash, 34, 35, 36, 

40 

Jadis (tribe), 4, 25 
Jaen, 456 

Ja'far, the Barmecide, 260 
Ja far, son of the Caliph -Hadi, 
260 



490 



INDEX 



Jafna, founder of the Ghas- 

sanid dynasty, 50 
Jaf nites, the. See Ghassanids, 

the 

Jaghbub, 468 

jahdar b. Dubay'a, 59 

fahiliyya (the Age of Bar- 
barism), xxvi, 30, 31, 34, 
71, 90, 158, 287 

-Jahiz, 267, 280, 346-347, 375 

jahiz, 346 

-Jahiziyya (Mu'tazilite sect), 
346 

jahl, meaning 1 barbarism,' 30 
Jahm b. Safwan, 222 
-Jahshiyari (Abu 'Abdallah 

Muhammad b. 'Abdus), 458 
Jalalu '1-Din Khwarizmshah, 

444 

Jalalu 'l-Din al-Mahalli, 455 
Jalalu '1-Din Rumi, Persian 

poet, 298. 393, 404 
Jallaban, 293 

-Jamharafi 7- Lugha, 343 
Jamharatu Ash'ari 'l-'Arab, 
130 

-Jami ('Abdu '1-Rahman), Per- 
sian poet, 229, 284, 386, 433 
-Jami 1 , by -Tirmidhi, 337 
-Jami'a, 371 
Jamil, 238 
Jandal, 245 
Janissaries, the, 413 
-Jannabi, 375 

-Jaradatan (name of two sing- 
ing girls), 2 

Janr (poet), 205, 238, 239, 240, 
242, 244-246 

Jassas b. Murra, 56, 57 

-Jawf, 9 

Jawhar, 429 

-Jawlan, 54 

Jerusalem, 169, 177, 233, 275, 

340, 355- 357 
Jesus, 215, 216 

Jews, the, 341. See Judaism 
-Jibal (province), 292, 356, 445 
Jibril (Gabriel), 150 
jihad, 430 

Jinn, the, 72, 112, 119, 152, 165 

jinni (genie), 165 

Jirjis -Makin (historian), 355 

John of Damascus, 221 

John of Ephesus, 52 

Johnson, Dr., 286, 313 

Joktan, xviii 

Jones, E. R., 433 

Jones, Sir William, 102, 452 

Jong, P. de, 366 

Jordan, the, 446 

-Jubba'i, 377, 378 

Judaism, e st ab 1 ished in 
-Yemen, 23, 137; zealously 
fostered by Dhu Nuwas, 
26 ; in Arabia, 137-140, 149, 
158, 170-172, 173, 176, 177 ; 
in Spain, 415, 428, 429 ; in 
Sicily, 441 

Judaism, influence of, on 
Muhammadan thought, 176, 
177, 215, 216 

-iu'iyya (the Fasters), 232 



Juliana of Norwich, 233 

-Junayd of Baghdad, 228, 230, 
392, 465 

Junde-shapur, 358 

Jurhum (tribe), xviii, 63, 117 

Jurjan, 339 

Jurji Zaydan, 435 

Justinian, 43, 51, 104, 358 

Justinus (Byzantine Em- 
peror), 27, 52 

-Juwayni (Abu '1-Ma'ali), 339, 
379 

Juynboll, 257, 262, 268, 350, 
369 

K 

Ka'b (tribe), 246 

Ka'b b. Zuhayr (poet), 119, 

127, 327 
-Ka'ba, 63, 64, 65-67, 101, 117, 

154. 155. 157. 164, 169, 177, 

198, 319, 400, 402, 467 
Ka'bu '1-Ahbar, 185 
-Kadhdhab (title of Musay- 

lima), 183 
Kafur (Ikhshidite), 306, 307 
Kahlan, 14 
-Kalabadhi, 338 
-kalam (Scholasticism), 363, 

378 

Kalb (tribe), 199, 405 
kalb, 445 

Kalila and Dimna, the Book 

of, 346, 363 
-Kamala (title), 88 
-kamil (metre), 75 
-Kamil of Ibnu '1-Athir, 

355. 379. 429- See Ibnu 

'l-Athir. 
-Kamil of -Mubarrad, 92, 131, 

202, 226, 227, 237, 244, 343 
kanwakan (a species of verse), 

450 

Karbala, 196, 198, 208, 216, 

218, 243, 466 
Kariba'il Watar, 10 
-Karkh, a quarter of Baghdad, 

267, 385 
kasb, 379 

Kashfn 'l-Zunun, 456 
-Kashshaf, 145 
katib (secretary), 257, 326 
Kawadh (Sasanian), 42 
Ketbogha, 446 

Khadija, 148, 150, 151, 152, 

153. 157 
-khafif (metre), 75 
Khalaf, 421 

Khalaf al - Ahmar, 97, 134, 

293. 344 
Khalid b. -Mudallil, 43 
Khalid b. -Walid, 184 
Khalid b. Yazid, 358. 
khalifa (Caliph), xxvii, 175 
-Khalil b. Ahmad, 75, 285, 

343 

Khamir (village), 19 
-Khamriyya, by Ibnu '1-Farid, 

396 

khamriyyat, 294 
khanaqah (monastery), 229 



-Khansa (poetess), 126, 127 
Kharidatu 'l-Qasr, 348 
khariji (Kharijite), 209 
Kharijites, the, 193, 207, 208- 

213, 221, 222, 239, 248, 259, 

428 

Kharmaythan, 360 
-Khasib, 373 
khatib, 271 

-Khatib, of Baghdad, 355 
-Khatim b 'Adi, 94, 96 
-Khawarij. See Kharijites, the 
-Khawarnaq (castle), 40, 41 
-Khaybar, 50 
-Khayf, 237 
Khazaza, battle of, 5 
-Khazraj (tribe), 170 
Khedivial dynasty, the, 468 
Khidash b. Zuhayr, 95, 96 
Khindif, xix 
-Khitat, by -Maqrizi, 453 
Khiva, 361, 444 
Khizanatu 'l-Adab, 131 
Khuda Bukhsh, S., 279 
Khulafa al-Rashidun, xxvii. 

See Caliphs, the Orthodox 
Khuday-nama, 348 
Khurasan, xxviii, 129, 132, 
220, 221, 232, 233, 239, 249, 
250, 251, 254, 256, 258, 263, 
265, 266, 275, 303. 339, 34L 
379, 390, 391, 419, 444 
Khurasan, dialect of, 339 
khuruj (secession), 209 
Khusraw Parwez. See Par- 
wez 

khntba, 263, 328 
Khuza'a (tribe), 63, 64, 65 
Khuzayma (tribe), xix 
Khuzistan, 266, 274, 293, 358 
Khwarizm, 357, 361, 444 
-Khwarizmi (Abu 'Abdallah), 
361 

-kibrit al-ahmar, 399 
Kilab (tribe), 246 
Kilab b. Murra, 64 
-kimiya (the Philosophers' 

Stone), 401 
Kimiya '« 'ISa'adat, 340 
-kimiya'un (the Alchemists), 

364 

Kinana (tribe), xix, 64 
Kinda (tribe), xviii, 42, 43, 69, 

85, 103, 104, 360 
-Kmdi, 288, 360 
-Kisa'i (philologist), 261, 343 
Kisra (title), 45 

Kitabu 'l-Aghani (the Book 
of Songs), 19, 26, 31, 32, 37, 
43, 44, 46, 47, 53. 85, 86, 87, 
88, 89, 94, 102, 104, 109, 110, 
123, 124, 131, 134, 138, 139, 
150, 200, 205, 216, 236, 237, 
239, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245. 
270, 279, 291, 292, 297, 345, 
347, 374, 419 

Kitabu 'l-Ahkam al-Sul- 
taniyya, 338 

Kitabu 'l-Akhbar at-Tiwal, 
349 , , 

Kitabu Ansabi l-Ashraf 349 

-Kitab al-Awsat, 353 



INDEX 



491 



Kitabu 'l-'Ayn, 343 
Kitabu 'l-Badi; 325 
Kitabu 'l-Bayan wa-'l-l abyin, I 

347 I 
Kitabu 'l-Falahat al-Naba- 

tiyya, xxv 
Kitabu Futuhi 'l-Buldan, 349 j 
Kitabu 'l-Hayawan, 346, 375 j 
Kitabu 'l-Ibar, by Dhahabi, ! 

339 

Kitabu 'l-'Ibar, by Ibn Khal- 

dan, 437 
Kitabu 'l-Ibil, 345 
Kitabu 'l-Ishtiqaq, 343 
Kitabu 'l-Kamil ft 'l-Ta'rikh, 

355. See -Kamil of Ibntt 

'l-Athir 
Kitabu Khalq al-Insan, 345 
Kitabu 'l-KJiayl, 345 
Kitabu 'l-Ma'arif, xviii, 202, 

223, 224, 345, 346 
Kitabu 'l-Maghazi, by Musa 

b. 'Uqba, 247 
Kitabu 'l-Maghazi, by -Wa- 

qidi, 144 
-Kitab at-Ma>isuri, 265 
Kitabu 'l-Masalik wa-'l-Ma- 

malik, 356 
Kitabu 'l-Milal wa-'l-Nihal, 

by Ibn Hazm, 341,427, 428 
Kitabu 'l-Milal wa-l-Nihal, 

by -Shahrastani, 341. See 

•Sliahrastani 
Kitabu 'l-Muluk wa-akhbar 

al-Madin, 13 
Kitabu 'l-Shi'r wa-'l-Shu'ara, 

75, 78, 105, ii7. 257, 293, 

346 

Kitabu 'l-Ta'arruf li-Madh- 
habi ahli 'l-Tasawwuf, 338 

Kitabu 'l-Tabaqat aV-Kibar, 
144 

Kitabu 'UTanbih wa- l-Ishraf, 
353. 354 

-Kitab al-Yamini, 355 

Kitabu 'I- Zuhd, 247 

Koran, the, xvii, xx, xxii-xxv, 
xxvi, xxvii, 1, 2, 3, 15, 17, 18, 
27, 68, 74, 91, 102, 119, 132, 
134. H1-H3, 144-152, 154- 
156, 158, 159-168, 169, 172, 
174, 173, 176, 178, 179, 183, 
184, 185, 187, 192, 201, 203, 
207-212, 215, 221, 223, 225, 
231, 234, 235, 237, 247, 249, 
273, 277, 278, 279, 282, 284, 
287, 294, 318, 327, 329, 330, 
342, 343, 344, 363, 365, 368, 
369, 375, 378, 379, 397- 398, 
402, 403, 408, 417, 433, 449, 
454- 455, 460, 461, 4 62 - 463, 
467 

Koran, the, derivation of, 1 59 ; 
collection of, 142 ; historical 
value of, 143 ; arrangement 
of, 143, 161 ; style of, 159, 
318, 368 ; not poetical as a 
whole, 160 ; held by Mos- 
lems to be the literal Word 
of God, 159, 235 ; heavenly 
archetype of, 151, 163, 368 ; 
revelation of, 150-152, 159 ; 



designed for oral recitation, 
161 ; commentaries on, 144, 
145, 35M55 : imitations of, 
318, 368, 375 ; dispute as to 
whether it was created or 
not, 262, 368, 369 

Koran-readers (-qurra), the, 
209, 210, 277 

Kosegarten, 128 

Krehl, L., 151, 360 

Kremer, Alfred von, 13, 14, 18, 
19, 23, 24, 101, 139, 140, 220, 
221, 225, 233, 279, 281, 302, 
304, 316, 31S, 321, 323, 324, 
360, 373- 379, 383, 399, 439 

-Kufa, xxiv, 38, 70, 127, 133, 
134, 186, 189, 193, 196, 198, 
202, 207-210, 215, 218, 219, 
229, 250, 253, 291, 293, 296, 
304, 342, 343, 344 

-Kulab, battle of, 253 

Kulayb (tribe), 244, 245 

Kulayb b. Rabi'a, 5, 55, 56, 57, 
76, 93 

Kulayb b. Wa'il, no. See 

Kulayb b. Rabi'a 
Kulthum b. Malik, no 
-Kumayt (poet), 138 
kunya (name of honour), 45, 

50, 112 
-Kusa'i, 244 
Kuthayyir (poet), 216 
-kutub al-sitta(the Six Books), 

337 

-Kutubi, 449, 452 



La Fontaine, 469 

Labid (poet), 50, 109, 119-121, 

128, 139, 140 
Lagrange, Grangeret de, 396, 

4*7 
Lahore, 268 

Lakhmites, the, of -Hira, 33, 

38, 39-49, 54- 69 
Lamis (name of a woman), 82 
Lamiyyatu 'l-'Ajam, 326 
Lamiyyatu 'l-'Arab, 79, 80, 89, 

134- 326 
Lamta (tribe), 429 
Lamtuna (tribe), 429 
Lane, E. W., 53, 164, 448, 459 
Lane-Poole, Stanley, 264, 275, 

371, 432 
-Lat (goddess), 135, 155 
Lataifu'l-Minan, 464 
Latifi (Turkish biographer), 

460 

Laus duplex (rhetorical 

figure), 311 
Law, Muhammadan, the 

schools of, 283, 284, 363, 465; 

the first corpus of, 337 
Lawaqihu 'I- Anwar, 225, 226, 

392 

-Lawh al-Mahfuz, 163, 378 
Layla, the beloved of 

-Majnun, 238 
Layla, mother of 'Amr b. 

Kulthum, 44, 109, no 



Le Strange, G., 256, 356, 357 
Learning, Moslem enthusiasm 

for, 281 
Lees, Nassau, 386 
Leo the Armenian, 359 
Letter-writing, the art of, 267 
Lexicon, the first Arabic, 343 
Library of Nuh II, the Sama- 

nid, 265, 266 ; of Hakam II, 

the Spanish Umayyad, 419 
Linguistic Sciences, the, 282 
Lippert. 370 
Lisa nu 'I- Arab, 456 
Lisanu 1-Din Ibnu '1-Khatib. 

See Ibnu 'l-Khatib 
Literary culture despised by 

the Arabs, 278 
litham, 423 
Littmann, Enno, 73 
Lollards, the, 374 
Longland, 450 
Loth, O., 1 
Lourdes, 382 

Love, Divine, the keynote of 
Sufiism, 231 ; two kinds of, 
234 ; an ineffable mystery, 
387 ; hymn of, 396 ; in Sufi 
poetry/397, 398, 402 

Loyalty, as understood by 
the heathen Arabs, 83-85 

Lucian, 319 

-lugha (Lexicography), 283 
Luhayy, 63 
Lulu, 304-1 

Luqman b. 'Ad (king), 2, 14 

-Luzumiyyat, 315, 316, 319, 
323, 324 

Luzutnu ma la yalzam, 315. 
See -Luzumiyyat 

Lyall, Sir Charles, 32, 54, 71, 
75, 82, 89, 92, 97, ioi, 109, 
in, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 
118, 120, 121, 125, 129, 139, 
140, 149 



M 

Ma' al-Sama (surname), 41 
Ma'ab, 63 

ma'ad (place of return), 215 
Ma'add, xix, xx, 112 
Ma'arratu 1-Nu'man, 313, 314, 
323 

-Ma'arri (Abu l-'Ala), 448. 

See Abu 'I-' Ala al-Ma'arri 
Ma'bad (singer), 236 
Ma'bad al-Juhani, 224 
Macbeth, Arabian parallel to 

an incident in, 25 
Macdonald, D. B., 273, 378, 

382, 433 
Macedonia, 276 
Machiavelli. 439 
j Macoraba, 5, 62 
Madagascar, 352 
-Mada'in (Ctesiphon), 29, 33, 

46, 47, 4.8. See Ctesiphon 
Mada'in Salih. 3 
-madh al-muwajjah 311 
-madid (metre), 98 
madih (panegyric), 78, 294 



492 



INDEX 



Madinatu '1-Salam, 255. See 

Baghdad 
Madrid, 420 
mafakhir, 100 
maghazi, 247 
-Maghrib, 460 

Magi (Magians), the. See 

Zoroastrians, the 
Magian fire-temple at Balkh, 

the, 259 
Mahaffy, J. P., 82 
Mahdi, the, 216, 217, 248, 249, 

274, 431 
-Mahdi, the Caliph, 103, 128, 

257, 258, 296, 343, 367, 373, 

374. 418 
-Mahdiyya, 274 
Mahmud (Ghaznevid), 268- 

269, 355 
Mahra, dialect of, xxi 
Maimonides, 434 
Majdu '1-Din al-Firuzabadi. 

See -Firuzabadi 
-Majmu' al-Mubarak, 355 
-Majnun, 238 
majnun, 165 

Malaga, 410, 421, 428, 434 
Malik (boon companion of 

Jadhima), 35 
Malik (brother of Qays b. 

Zuhayr), 61 
Malik the Azdite, 34 
Malik, the slayer of -Khatim 

b. 'Adi, 94, 95 
Malik b. Anas, 284, 337, 366, 

408 

-Malik al-Dillil (title of Imru'u 

'l-Qays), 104 
-Malik al-Kamil (Ayyubid), 

395, 434 
-Malik al -Salih Najmu'l-Din 

(Ayyubid), 447 
Malik Shah (Seljuq), 275, 276, 

326, 34° 
-Malik al-Zahir (Ayyubid), 

275 

-Malik al-Zahir Baybars. 

See Baybars, Sultan 
Malikite books burned by the 

Almohades, 433 
Malikite school of Law, the, 

408 

Mamelukes, the, 413 
Mameluke dynasty, the, xxix, 

442, 446, 147, 448, 453. 464 
mamluk, 447 

-Ma'mun, the Caliph, 92, 129, 
255. 257. 262, 263, 284, 302, 
343 - 338-359, 361, 36?, 369, 
373, 388 

Manat (goddess), 135, 155 

Mandeville, Sir John, xxv 

Manfred, 441 

-Manfuha, 124 

Mani (Manes), 364, 375 

Manichseans, the, 218, 297, 
341, 372-375- See Zindiqs, 
the 

-Mansur, the Caliph, 128, 206, 
252, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258- 
259, 291, 314, 337, 34 6 > 349, 
358, 373, 407 



Mansur I (Samanid), 265, 
352 

-Mansur Ibn Abi 'Amir, 412, 

413. 426 
Mantle Ode (-Burda), the, 

326, 327 
maqama, 328 

-MaqamatM Badi'u '1-Zaman 

al- Hamadhani, 328, 329 
-Maqamat, of -Hariri, 329- 

336 

Maqamu Ibrahim, 63 
-Maqdisi. See-Muqaddasi 
-Maqqari, 399, 401, 413, 418, 

419, 427, 436, 454 
-Maqrizi (Taqiyyu 1-Din), 453 
-Maqsura, 343 

Marabout, modern form of 

murabit, 430 
Marasidu 'l-Ittila', 357 
marathi, 294 
Marathon, battle of, 174 
Marcion, 364 

Margoliouth, Prof. D. S., xxiv, 
183, 267, 314, 316, 317, 319, 
357, 469 

Mariaba, 5 

Ma'rib, 2, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 

50. See Dyke or Ma'rib 
Maridin, 449 
ma'rifat (gnosis), 386 
Marinid dynasty, the, 442 
Mariya, mother of -Mu'ndhir 
III, 41 

Manya (name of a hand- 
maiden), 46, 47 

Mariya of the Ear-rings, 50 

Marj Rahit, battle of, 199 

Marr al-Zahran, 95 

Marriage, a loose form of, 
prevailing among the Shi- 
'ites, 262 

Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, 385, 386, 
388 

Marwan I (Umayyad Caliph), 
199 

Marwan II (Umayyad Caliph), 

181, 251, 253, 347 
-Marzuqi (philologist), 128 
Masabihu 'l-Sunna, 337 
Masaliku 'l-Mamalik, 356 
-mashaf, 294 
Mashhad -Husayn, 466 
Maslama b. Ahmad, 420 
Masruq, 28 

Mas'ud, Sultan, 329. See 

Ghiyathu 'l-Din Mas'ud 
-Mas'udi, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 

205, 206, 259, 260, 267, 349, 

352-354, 387, 456 
Materia Medica, by Ibnu '1- 

Baytar, 434 
tnathalib, 100, 280 
Mathnawi, the, by Jalalu '1- 

Din Rumi, 404 
-Matin, 428 
mat! a', 309 
main, 144 
Mauritania, 412 
-MawaHzwa'l-I'tibarfi dhikri 

'I Khitat wa 'l-Athar, 453 
-Mawali (the Clients), 198, 



207, 219, 222, 248, 250, 278, 
279, 373 

-Mawali (the Clients), coalesce 
with the Shi'ites, 198, 219, 
220, 250 ; treated with con- 
tempt by the Arabs, 219, 

248, 278, 279 ; their culture, 
248 ; their influence, 278, 
279 

mawaliyya, a species of 

verse, 450. 
-Mawardi, 337, 338 
Mawiyya, mother of -Mun- 

dhir III, 41 
Mawiyya, wife of Hatim of 

Tayyi', 87 
-Maydani, 31. See Proverbs, 

Arabic 

Maymun b. Qays. See -A'sha 
Maysun, 195 
Mazdak, 42, 258, 364 
Mazyar, 375 

Mecca, xviii, xxiii, xxvi,xxvii, 
2, 3, 5, 6, 22, 28, 53, 62, 63, 
64, 65-68, 101, 102, 114, 117, 
146, 150, 154-156, 158, 169, 
171, 174, 175, 196, 198, 202, 
236, 249, 274, 319, 339, 340, 
395, 396, 429, 431, 434, 439, 
466, 468 

Mecca, Pre-islamic history 
of, 62 ; attacked by the 
Abyssinians, 66-69 ; sub- 
mits to the Prophet, 64, 175 

Mecca, the dialect of, xxiii 

Meccan Revelations, the, 464. 
See Fuluhat al-Makkiyya 

Meccan Suras of the Koran, 
the, 160-168 

Media, 356 

Medina (-Madina), xxvi, 
xxvii, 3, 21, 22, 49, 50, 52, 
62, 71, 84, 150, 157, 158, 169, 
170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 177, 
181, 185, 186, 188, 198, 208, 
209, 236, 241, 243, 337, 339, 
365, 466, 468 

Medina, Suras of the Koran 
revealed at, 175, 176 

Mediterranean Sea, the, 5, 
2.55, 275, 404, 4 I2 ,444 

Merv, 252, 346 

Merx, A., 384, 389 

Mesopotamia, 35, 186, 238, 
240, 269, 355, 358, 385, 388, 
411, 446 

Messiah, Moslem beliefs re- 
garding the, 215-217, 248, 

249. See Mahdi. the 
Metempsychosis, the doctrine 

of, 267 

Metres, the Arabian, 74, 75 
Mevlevi dervish order, the, 

393 
mihna, 368 
-Mihras. 124 

Mihrgan, Persian festival, 250 
Milton, 212 
Mina, 119 

Minasan language, the, xxi 
Minaeans, the, 7 
minbar (pulpit), 199 



INDEX 



493 



Minqar, 57 

Miqlab (castle), 24 

Miracles demanded by the 

Qurayshfrom Muhammad, 

165 ; falsely attributed to 

Muhammad, 166 
-Mi'raj (the Ascension of the 

Prophet), 169, 403 
Mir'atu 'l-Zaman, 355 
Mishkatu 'l-Hasabih, 337 
Hisr (Old Cairo), 394 
misra' (hemistich), 74 
-Mizhar, 455. See -Muzhir 
Moguls, the Great, xxix, 444 
Moliere, 469 

Monasticism, alien to Islam, 
225 

Mongol Invasion, the, xxiv, 

xxix, xxx, 272, 277, 326, 443, 

444-446 
Mongols, the, 254, 264, 275. 

442, 443, 462. See Mongol 

Invasion, the 
Monte Cristo, 469 
Montrose, 191 
Mordtmann, 9 
Morocco, 264, 341, 423, 424, 

430, 431, 442 
Moses, 165, 172, 185, 215, 273, 

397 

Moslem, meaning of, 153 
Moslems, the first, 153 
Moslems, the non-Arabian. 

See -Hawaii 
Mosul (-Mawsil), 261, 269, 281, 

326, 355, 362, 399, 445, 454 
-Mu'allaqat, 77- 82, 101-121, 

128, 131, 416, 459 
Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan 

(Caliph), xxviii, 13, 119, 181, 

191, 192, 193, 194-195, 196, 

206, 207, 208, 213, 214, 222, 

256, 377, 407, 426 
Mu'awiya b. Bakr (Amale- 

kite prince), 2 
Mu'awiya, brother of -Khansa, 

126 

Mu'ayyidu '1-Dawla (Buway- 

hid), 267 
-Mubarrad (philologist), 92, 

131, 202, 226, 237, 244, 343, 

344 

Mudar b. Nizar, xix, 252 
Mudar, the tribes descended 

from, xix 
-MudMuxbat, -Mudhahhabat, 

101 

-Mufaddal al-Dabbi (philo- 
logist), 31, 128, 133, 343 

-Hufaddaliyyat, 90, 128, 343 

-Mughammas, 69 

muhajat (scolding - match), 
238 

-Muhajirun (the Refugees), 

171, 209 
Muhalhil b. Rabi'a, 58, 76, 

109, no 
-Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, 239 
-Muhallabi, the Vizier, 267, 

347 

Muhammad, the Prophet, 
xxiii, xxvi-xxviii, 3, 10, 15. 



18, 27, 30, 51, 62, 64, 65, 66, 
69, 70, 71, 74, 86, 87, 105, 
124, 132, 134, 135, 137, 139. 
141-180, 181-183, 186-188, 
190-193, 201, 202, 207-209, 
213-218, 223, 224, 229, 231, 
233, 235, 237, 249, 250, 251, 
257, 258, 267, 273, 274, 277, 
278, 279, 280, 318, 327, 330, 
341, 342, 348, 349, 355, 356, 
380, 383, 392, 400, 403, 420, 
428, 433, 449, 455, 462, 463, 
465, 467 
Muhammad, question 
whether he could read and 
write, 151 ; his attitude 
towards the heathen poets, 
159, 212, 235 ; his aim in 
the Meccan Suras, 160 ; his 
death, 175 ; his character, 
179, 180 ; biographies of, 
144, 146, 247, 349 ; poems 
in honour of, 124, 127, 326, 
327, 449 ; mediaeval legend 
of, 327 ; pilgrimage to the 
tomb of, 463 ; his tomb 
demolished by the Wah- 
habis, 467 
Muhammad ('Alid), 258 
Muhammad (Seljuq), 326 
Muhammad b. 'Abd al- 

Wahhab, 465-467 
Muhammad b. 'Ali('Abbasid), 
251 

Muhammad 'Ali Pasha, 466, 
468 

Muhammad b. 'Ali b.-Sanusi, 
468 

Muhammad Ibnu '1-Hana- 

fiyya, 216, 218, 220 
Muhammad b. -Hasan, the 

Imam, 217 
Muhammad b. Isma'il, the 

Imam, 217, 272-274 
Muhammad al-Kalbi, 348 
Muhammad b. Sa'ud, 466 
Muhiyvu'l-Din Ibnu 'l-'Arabi, 

399-404, 434, 462 
Muhiyyu 1-Maw'udat (title), 

243 

-Muhtadi, the Caliph, 264 
Muir, Sir W., 142, 143, 146, 

156, 184, 197, 338 
-Mu'izz (Fatimid Caliph). 420 
Mu'izzu '1-Dawla (Buwayhid), 

266, 267, 347 
Mu'jamu 'l-Buldan, 17, 357 
Mu'jamu 'l-Udaba, 357 
-Mujammi' (title), 65 
Mukarrib (title), 10 
-Mukhadramun (a class of 

poets), 127 
-Mukhtar, 198, 218-220, 250 
-Mukhtarat, 128 
-Muktafi, the Caliph, 257, 269, 

325 

-Mulaththamun, 423 

Miiller, A., 5, 101, 261, 266, 

355, 429 
Miiller, D. H., [9, 10, 12, 13, 

17, 18, 24 
Multan, 203 



Muluku '1-Tawa'if (the Party 

Kings of Spain). 414 
-Munafiqun (the Hypocrites), 

171, 172, 176 
-Munakhkhal (poet), 49 
-Mundhir I (Lakhmite), 41 
-Mundhir III (Lakhmite), 

41-44, 45, 50, 51, 60, 87, 103, 

104 

-Mundhir IV (Lakhmite), 
45, 47 

-Mundhir b. -Harith (Ghassa- 

nid), 50, 52 
-Mundhir b. Ma' al-sama, 50, 

51. See -Mundhir III 
-Munjibat (title), 88 
Munk, S., 360 

-Munqidh ntina 'l-Dalal, 340, 

380 
munshi, 326 

-Muqaddasi (geographer), 356, 

357, 409 
-Muqaddima, of Ibn Khaldun, 

32, 229, 278, 289, 437-440. 

See Ibn Khaldun 
-Muqanna', 258 
-Muqattam, Mt., 394, 396 
-Muqtabis, 428 

-Muqtadir, the Caliph, 325, 

343, 399 
-murabit, 430 

-Murabitun, 423. See Almo- 

ravides, the 
murid, 392 
murji' (Murjite), 221 
Murjites, the, 206, 220, 221- 

222, 428 
Murra, 56, 57, 58 
Mursiya (Murcia), 399 
Huruju 'l-Dhahab, 13, 15, 37. 

195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 

267, 349, 353, 334, 387, 457 
muruwwa (virtue;, 72,82, 178, 

287 

Musa b. Maymun (Maimo- 

nides), 434 
Musa b. Nusayr, 203, 204, 

405 

Musa b. 'Uqba, 247 
Mus'ab, 199 
j Musaylima, 183 
-Mushtarik, 357 
Music in Pre-Islamic Arabia, 
236 

Musicians, Arab, 236 
-musiqi (Music), 283 
Muslim (author of -Sahih), 

144, 337 
Muslim b. 'Aqil, 196 
Muslim b. -Walid (poet), 261 
Muslim (Moslem), meaning 

of, 153 
musnad (inscriptions), 6 
-Mustakfi (Spanish Umay- 

yad), 424 
-Mustakfi, 'Abbasid Caliph, 

266 

-Mustansir ('Abbasid), 448 
-Mustarshid Billah, the 

Caliph, 329 
-Musta sim, the Caliph, 254 

445 



494 



INDEX 



-Mustawrid b. 'Ullifa, 210 
-mut'a, 262 

-Mu'tadid ('Abbadicl), 421, 425 
-Mu'tadid ('Abbasid Caliph), 
325 

-Mu'tamid ('Abbadid), 421-424 
-Mutajarrida, 49, 122 
-Mutalammis (poet), 107, 108, 
138 

Mutammim b. Nuwayra, 127 
-Mutanabbi (poet), 266, 269, 
270, 289, 290, 291, 292, 304- 
313, 315, 3i6, 324, 396, 416, 
448 

mutasawwifa (aspirants to 

Sufiism), 229 
-Mu'tasim, the Caliph, 129, 

257, 263, 369, 375 
-Mutawakkil, the Caliph, 257, 

264, 284, 344, 350, 369, 375, 

376, 388 
mutawakkil, 233 
Mu'tazilites, the, 206, 220, 

222-224, 225, 230, 262, 268, 

284, 346, 367-370, 376, 377, 

378, 392, 409, 428, 431 
-Mu'tazz, the Caliph, 325 
-Muti', the Caliph, 353 
Muti' b. Iyas (poet), 291, 292 
muwahhid, 432 
-Muwalladun, 278, 408 
muwashshah, verse-form, 416, 

417, 449 
-Muwatta, 337, 408, 409 
Muzaffar Qutuz (Mameluke), 

446 

Muzayna (tribe), 116 
-Muzayqiya (surname), 15 
-Muzhir, 71, 455 
Mystical poetry of the Arabs, 

the, 325, 396-398 
Mysticism. See Sufiism 



N 

-Nabat, the Nabataeans, 

xxv, 279 
Nabataean, Moslem use of 

the term, xxv 
Nabatcean Agriculture, tlie 

Book of, xxv 
Nabataean inscriptions, xxv, 3 
-Nabigha al-Dhubyani (poet), 

39- 49. 50, 54, 86, 101, 121- 

123, 128, 139 
nadhir (warner), 164 
Nadir3(tribe), 170 
-Nadr b. Harith, 330 
Nafahatu 'l-Uns, by Jami, 386 
Nafhu 'l-Tib, by -Maqqari, 

399, 413, 436 
Nafi' b. -Azraq, 208 
-Nafs al-zakiyya (title), 258 
-Nahhas (philologist), 102 
-Nahrawan, battle of, 208 
-nahw (grammar), 283 
Na'ila, 35 
-Najaf, 40 

-Najashi (the Negus), 26, 27, 
28 

Najd, xvii, 62, 107, 466 



Najda b. ' Amir, 209 
Najdites (a Kharijite sect), the, 
208 

Najran, 26, 27, 105, 124, 136, 

137, 162 
Na'man, 11 
Namir (tribe), xix 
Napoleon, 468 

-Naqaid, of-Akhtal and Jarir, 
240 

-Naqa'id, of Jarir and 

-Farazdaq, 239 
Naqb al-Hajar, 8 
-Nasafi (Abu '1-Barakat), 456 
-Nasa'i, 337 

Nashwan b. Sa'id al-Himyari, 
12, 13 

nasib (erotic prelude), 77, 310 
Nasim, a place near Baghdad, 
461 

-Nasimi (the Hurufi poet), 

460, 461 
Nasir-i Khusraw, Persian 

poet, 323 
Nasiru '1-Dawla (Hamdanid), 

269, 411 
Nasr b. Sayyar, 251 
NasrII (Samanid), 265 
Nasrid dynasty of Granada, 

the, 435, 442 
nat', 257 

-Nawaji (Muhammad b. 

-Hasan), 417 
Nawar, wife of -Farazdaq, 

243, 244 
Nawar, the beloved of Labid, 

121 

Nawruz, Persian festival, 250 
Naysabur, 232, 276, 338, 339, 

340, 348 
Nazmu 'l-Suluk, 396 
-Nazzam, 369 

Neo-platonism, 360, 384, 389, 
390 

Neo-platonist philosophers 
welcomed by Nushirwan, 
358 

Nero, 325 

Nessus, 104 

Nicephorus, 261. 

Niebuhr, Carsten, 7 

Night journey of Muhammad, 
the, 169, 403 

Night of Power, the, 150 

Nihayatu 'UArab, 455 

Nile, the, xxviii, 264, 354, 455 

Nirvana, 233, 391 

-Nizamiyya College, at 
Baghdad, 276, 340, 380, 431 

-Nizamiyya College, at 
Naysabur, 276, 340 

Nizamu '1-Mulk, 276, 340, 379 

Nizar, xix 

Noah, xv, xviii, 165 

Noldeke, Th., xv, xx, xxxiii, 
xxv, 5, 27, 29, 38, 42, 44, 45, 
48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57-60, 
66, 70, 78, 80, 83, 101, 102, 
103, 109, 113, 122, 123, 126, 
127, 130, 134, 145, 151, 160, 
167, 172, 184, 195, 228, 237, 
238. 249, 252, 258, 288 



Nomadic life, characteristics 

of, 439, 440 
Nominalists, 367 
Normans, the, 441 
Nubia, 387 

Nuh I (Samanid), 265 
Nuh II (Samanid), 265 
-Nufum al-Zahira, 257, 262, 

268, 369, 454 
-Nu'man I (Lakhmite), 40, 41, 

139 

-Nu'man III (Lakhmite), 45- 
49, 50, 53, 54, 69, 86, I2i, 
122 

-Nu'man al-Akbar. See Nu'- 
man I 

-Nu'man al-A'war(Lakhmite). 

See -Nu'man I 
-Nu'man b. -Mundhir Abu 

Qabus. See -Nu'man HI 
Numayr (tribe), 245, 246 
-Nuri (Abu '1-Husayn), 392 
Nushirwan (Sasanian king), 

29, 42, 45, 358 
-Nuwayri, 15, 455 



Occam, 367 

Ockley, Simon, 433 

Ode, the Arabian, 76-78. See 

qasida 
Odenathus, 33, 35 
Odyssey, the, xxii 
Ordeal of tire, the, 23 
Orthodox Caliphs, the, xxiii, 

xxvii, 181-193 
Orthodox Reaction, the, 284, 

376. See -Ash'ari 
Osiander, 9 

Ottoman Turks, the, xxix, 

442, 447, 464-467 
Oxus, the, xxviii, 341, 444 



Pahlavi (Pehlevi) language, 

the, 214, 330, 346, 348, 358 
Palermo, 441 

Palestine, 52, 104, 137, 229 
Palmer, E. H., 172, 176, 260 
Palms, the Feast of, 54 
Palm-tree, verses on the, by 

'Abd al-Rahman I, 418 
Palm-trees of Hulwan, the 

two, 292 
Palmyra, 33, 53 
Panegyric, two-sided (rheto- 
rical figure), 311 
Panjab (Punjaub), the, 203, 
268 

Pantheism, 231, 233, 234, 275, 
372, 390, 391, 394, 403, 460 

Paracelsus, 388 

Paradise, the Muhammadan, 
burlesqued by Abu'l -'Ala 
al-Ma'arri, 318, 319 

Parthian kings, the, 457 

Parwez, son of Hurmuz (Sa- 
sanian), 48, 69 

Passion Play, the, 218 



INDEX 



495 



Paul and Virginia, 469 
Pavet de Courteille, 349 
Pearl-fishing in the Persian 

Gulf, 354 
Pedro of Castile, 437 
Penitents, the (a name given 
to certain Shi'ite insur- 
gents), 218 
Pentateuch, the, 165, 171, 323 
Persecution of the early Mos- 
lems, 154, 155, 157 ; of here- 
tics, 224, 368, 369, 372-375, 
376, 436, 460, 461 
Persepolis, 356 

Persia, xxiv, xxvii, xxix, 21, 
29, 33, 34, 33, 41. 42, 48, 113, 
169, 182, 184, 185, 188, 208, 
214, 247, 255, 258, 265, 266, 
274, 279, 328, 348, 349, 390, 
394, 404, 444, 446, 454, 457 

Persia, the Moslem conquest 
of, 184 

Persia, the national legend of, 
349 

Persian divines, influence of 

the, 278 
Persian Gulf, the, 4, 107, 354, 

357 

Persian influence on Arabic 

civilisation and literature, 

xxviii, xxix, 182, 250, 256, 

265, 267, 276-281, 287, 288, 

290, 295, 418 
Persian influence on the Shi'a, 

214, 219 
Persian Kings, History of tlie, 

translated by Ibnu '1-Mu- 

qaffa', 348 
Persian literature, fostered by 

the Samanids and Buway- 

hids 265, 303 
Persian Moslems who wrote 

in Arabic, xxx, xxxi, 276- 

278 

Persians, the, rapidly became 

Arabicised, 280, 281 
Persians, the, in -Yemen, 29 
Petra xxv, 5 
Petrarch, 425 
Pharaoh, 162, 403 
Pharaohs, the, 4, 5 
Philip III, 441 
Philistines, the, 3 
Philologists, the Arab, xxiv, 

32, 127, 128, 133, 246, 3*1-348 
Philosophers, the Greek, 341, 

363 

Philosophers, the Moslem,36o, 

361, 381, 382. 432-434 
PhilosopJiers and scientists, 

Lives of the, by Ibnu '1- 

Qifti, 355 
Philosophus Aittodidactus, 433 
Phoenician language, the, xvi 
Phoenicians, the, xv 
Physicians, History of the, by 

Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, 266, 355 
Piers the Plowman, 450 
Pietists, the, 207, 208 
Pilgrimage to Mecca, the, 63, 

65, 135- 136, 319 
Pilgrimage, of the Shi'ites, to 



j the tomb of -Husayn at 
Karbala, 218, 466 
fir (Persian word), 392 
Plato, 204 
Plutarch, 363 
Pocock, E., 433 
Poems of the Hudhaylites the, 
128 

Poems, the Pre-islamic, xxii, 
xxiii, 30, 31, 71-140, 282, 
285-289, 290 ; chief col- 
lections of, 127-131 ; the 
tradition of, 131-134 ; first 
put into writing. 132 

Poems, tfie Suspended. See 
-Mn'allaqal 

Poetics, work on, by Ibnu 
'1-Mu'tazz, 325 

Poetry, Arabian, the origins 
of, 72-75 ; the decline of, 
not due to Muhammad, 
235 ; in the Umayyad 
period, 235-246 ; in the 
'Abbasid period, 285-336 ; 
in Spain, 415-417, 4 2 5, 426 ; 
after the Mongol Invasion, 
448-450. 

Poetry, conventions of the 
Ancient, criticised, 286, 288, 
3i5 

Poetry, Muhammadan views 
regarding the merits of, 
308-312 ; intimately con- 
nected with public life, 436 ; 
seven kinds of, 450 

Poetry, the oldest written 
Arabic, 138 

Poetry and Poets, Book of, by 
Ibn Qutayba. See Kitabu 
'l-Shi'r wa-'lShn'ara 

Poets, the Modern, 289-336 ; 
judged on their merits by 
Ibn Qutayba, 287 , pro- 
nounced superior to the 
Ancients, 288, 289 

Poets, the Pre-islamic, cha- 
racter and position of, 71- 
73 ; regarded as classical, 
xxiii, 72, 285, 286 

Politics, treatise on, by -Ma- 
wardi, 337, 338 

Portugal, 416 

Postal service, organised by 

'Abdu 1-Malik, 201 
Postmaster, the office of, 45 
Praetorius, F., 10 
Pravers, the five daily, 149, 

168 

! Predestination. 157, 223, 224, 

378, 379 
; Preston, Theodore, 330 
1 Prideaux, W. F., 11, 13 

Primitive races in Arabia, 1-4 

Proclus, 389 

Procreation, considered sin- 
ful, 317 

Prophecy, a, made by the 

Carmathians, 322 
Prose, Arabic, the beginnings 

of, 31 

Proverbs, Arabic, 3, 16, 31, 50, 
84, 91, 109, 244, 292, 373 



Ptolemies, the, 276 

Ptolemy (geographer), 3, 358 

Public recitation of literary 

works, 314 
Pyramids, the, 354 
Pyrenees, the, xxviii, 204 
Pythagoras, 102 



Qabus (Lakhmite), 44, 45, 52 
qadar (power), 224 
-Qadariyya (the upholders of 

free-will), 224 
qaddah (oculist), 271 
qadi 'l-qudat (Chief Justice), 

395 

Qadiri dervish order, the, 393 
-Qahira, 275, 394. See Cairo 
qahraniana, 457 
Qahtan, xviii. 12, 14, 18, 200 
Qala'idu 'l-Iqyan, 425 
-Qamns, 403, 456 
-Oanun, 361 
qaraa, 159 
-Qarafa cemetery, 396 
-Qaramita, 274. See Carma- 
thians, the 
qarawi, 138 

qam, meaning 'ray,' 18 

qasida (ode), 76-78, 105, 288 

qasida (ode), form of the, 76, 
77 ; contents and divisions 
of the, 77, 78 ; loose struc- 
ture of the, 134 ; unsuitable 
to the conditions of urban 
life. 288 

Qasidatu l-Biirda. See-Burda 

Oasidatu ' l-Himyariyya, 12 

Qasir, 36, 37 

Qasirin, 111 

Qasij'un, Mt., 309 

-Qastallani, 455 

Qatada, 294 

Qatari b. -Fuja'a, 213 

-Qayrawan, 264, 429 

Qays 'Aylan (tribe), xix, 199 
293, 405 

Qays b. -Khatim, 94-97, 137 

Qays b. Zuhayr, 61, 62 

Qaysar (title), 45 

Qazwin, 445 

-Qazwini (geographer), 416 
Qift, 355 
qiyas, 297 
Qonya, 403, 404 
Quatremere, M., xxv, 437, 445, 
453 

Qudar the Red, 3 
Qumis (province), 391 
-Qur'an, 159. See Koran, the 
Quraysh (tribe), xix, xxiii, 
xxvii, 22, 64, 65-68, 117, 
124, 134, 142, 146, 153-158, 
164, 165, 170, 174, 175, 183, 
207, 216, 237, 241, 279, 330, 
347, 375, 4°7, 4*7 
Quraysh, the dialect of, xxiii, 
142 ; regarded as the classi- 
cal standard, xxiii, 134 
Qurayza (tribe), 21, 170 



496 



INDEX 



qurra (Readers of the Koran), 
277. See Koran-readers, the 

Qusayy, 64, 65, 146 

-Qushayri, 226, 227, 228, 230, 
338, 379 

Quss b. Sa'ida, 136 

qussas, 374 

Qusta b. Luqa, 359 

Qutu 7 -Qulub, 338, 393 



R 

rabad, 409 

Rabi', son of Fatima, the 
daughter of -Khurshub, 88 

Rabi'a b. Nizar, xix, 5 

Rabi'a (b. Nizar), the descen- 
dants of, xix 

Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya, 227, 
232, 233-23$ 

Racine, 469 

-Radi, the Caliph, 376 

Radwa, Mount, 216 

Rafidites, the, 268. See Shi'- 
ites, the 

Ra'i '1-ibil (poet), 245, 246 

raj'a (palingenesis), 215 

-rajaz (metre), 74, 75, 76, 77 

Rakhman, 126 

Rakusians, the, 149 

Ralfs, C.A., 327 

Ramadan, the Fast of, 224, 
45o 

Ramla, 229 

Raqqada, 274 

Rasa'ilu Ikhwan al -Safa, 370, 
371 

Rasmussen, 61 

Rationalism. See Free-thonghi 
-Rawda, island on the Nile, 
455 

rawi (reciter), 131 
Rawis, the, 131-134 
Raydan, 10 

-Rayy, 258, 259, 268, 333, 350, 

361, 420, 445 
-Rayyan, 120 

-Razi (Abu Bakr), physician, 
361. See Abu Bakr al- 
Razi 

-Razi (Abu Bakr), historian, 
420 

Reading and writing de- 
spised by the pagan Arabs, 
39 

Realists, 368 
Red Sea, the, 4, 5, 62 
Reformation, the, 468 
Reforms of 'Abdu '1-Malik, 

201 ; of 'Umar b. *Abd al- 

-'Aziz, 205 
Refugees, the. See -Muhaji- 

run 

Register of 'Umar, the, 187, 
188 

Reiske, 15, 102, 308, 312, 316, 
331 

Religion, conceived as a pro- 
duct of the human mind, 
317 

Religion of the Sabaeans and 
Himyarites, 10, 11 ; of the 



Pagan Arabs, 56, 135-140, 

164, 166 ; associated with 

commerce, 135, 154 
Religions and Sects, Book of, 

by -Shahrastani, 341 ; by 

Ibn Hazm, 341. See Kitabu 

'l-Milal wa-'l-Nihal 
Religious ideas in Pre-islamic 

poetry, 117, 119, 123, 124, 

135-140 

Religious literature in the 

'Abbasid period, 337-341 
Religious poetry, 298-302 
Renaissance, the, 443 
Renan, xv, 432 
Renegades, the, 408, 415, 426 
Resurrection, the, 166, 215, 

297, 299, 316 
Revenge, views of the Arabs 

concerning, 93, 94 ; poems 

relating to, 97 
Rhages. See -Rayy 
Rhapsodists, the, 131 
Rhazes, 265, 361. See Abu 

Bakr al -Razi. 
Rhetoric, treatise on, by 

-Jahiz, 347 
Rhinoceros, the, 354 
Rhymed Prose. See saj' 
Ribah b. Murra, 25 
ribat, 276, 430 
Richelieu, 195 

Rifa'i dervish order, the, 393 
-Rijam, 119 

Risalalu 'l-Ghufran, 166, 167, 
206, 318, 319, 373 

-Risalat al-Qushayriyya, 226, 

227, 338 
Roderic, 204, 405 
Rodiger, Emil, 8 
Roger II of Sicily, 434 
Rome, 33, 34. 41, 43, 5o, 52, 
113, 252, 314. See Byzan- 
tine Empire, the 
Ronda, 410 

Rosary, use of the, prohibited, 
467 

Rosen, Baron V., 375 
Rothstein, Dr. G., 37, 53 
-Rub' al -Khali, xvii 
Rubicon, the, 252 
Ruckert, Friedrich, 93, 97, 

104, 292, 332 
Rudagi, Persian poet, 265 
Ruhu '1-Quds (the Holy 

Ghost), 150 
-rujz, 152 

Ruknu '1-Dawla (Buwayhid), 

266, 267 
-Rumaykiyya, 422 
Rushayd al-Dahdah, 394, 396 
Rustam, 330, 363 
Ruzbih, 346. See Ibnu 'L-Mu- 

qaffa' 

S 

-Sa'b Dhu '1-Qarnayn, 17 
-Sab' al-Tiwal (the Seven 

Long Poems), 103 
Saba (Sheba), xxv, 1, 4, 5, 6, 

10, 16, 17. See Sabasans, the 



Saba (person), 14 

Saba^an language, the, xvi 

See South Arabic language, 

the 

Sabseans, the, xv, xvii, xviii , 
xx, xxi, 1, 4, 5, 7, 14, 17 

Saba'ites, the, a Shi'ite sect, 
215, 216, 217, 219 

Sabians, the, 149, 341, 354, 
358, 363, 364, 388 

-Sab'iyya (the Seveners), 217 

Sabota, 5 

Sabuktagin, 268 

Sabur I, 33 

Sabur b. Ardashir, 267, 314 

Sachau, E., xxii, 361 

Sacy, Silvestre de, 8, 80, 102, 

353, 354 
Sa'd (tribe), 147 
Sa'd (client of Jassas b. 

Murra), 56, 57 
Sa'd b. Malik b. Dubay'a, 57 
sada (owl or wraith), 94, 166 
Sa'd-ilah, 11 
sadin, 259 
-Sadir (castle), 41 
Sadru 'l-Din of Qonya, 403, 

404 

safa (purity), 228, 370 
Safa, the inscriptions of, xxi 
-Safadi, 326, 456 
Safar-Nama, 324 
Safawid dynasty, the, xxix 
-Saffah, 253, 254. 257, 259 
-Saffah b. 'Abd Manat, 253 
-Saffah, meaning of the title, 
253 

-Saffar (title), 265 
Saffarid dynasty, the, 265 
safi (pure), 228 

Safiyyu 'l-Din al-Hilli (poet) 

449, 45o 
sag (Persian word), 445 
-Sahaba (the Companions of 

the Prophet), 229 
Sahara, the, 423, 429, 468 
-Sahib Isma'il b. 'Abbad, 267. 

347 

Sahibu '1-Zanadiqa (title), 373 
-Sahih, of -Bukhari, 144, 146, 

337 

-Sahih, of Muslim, 144, 337 
Sahl b. 'Abdallah al-Tustari, 

392 

Sa'id b. -Husayn, 274 
St. John, the Cathedral of, 
203 

St. Thomas, the Church of, at 

-Hira, 46 
Saints, female, 233 
Saints, the Moslem, 386, 393, 

395, 402, 403, 463, 467 
saf (rhymed prose), 74, 75, 

159, 327, 328 
Sakhr, brother of -Khansa, 

126, 127 
Sal', 398 

Saladin, 275, 348, 355 

Salahu 'l-Din b. Ayyub, 275. 

See Saladin 
Salama b. Khalid, 253 
Salaman, 433 



INDEX 



497 



Salaman (tribe), 79 
Salamiyya, 274 
Salih (prophet), 3 
Salih (tribe), 50 
Salih b. 'Abd al-Quddus, 372- 
375 

Salim al-Suddi, 204 
Saltpetre industry, the, at 

-Basra, 273 
Sam b. Nuh, xviii. SeeShem, 

Hie son o f Noah 
soma' (religious music), 394 
sama' (oral tradition), 297 
Samah'ali Yanuf, 10, 17 
-Sam'ani, 339 

Samanid dynasty, the, 265, 

266, 268, 271, 303 
Samarcand, 203, 268, 447 
Samarra, 263 

-Samaw'al b. 'Adiya, 84, 85 

Samuel Ha-Levi, 428, 429 

San'a, 8, 9, 17, 24, 28, 66, 215 

sanad. 144 

-Sanhaji, 456 

Sanjar (Seljuq), 264 

-Sanusi (Muhammad b. Yu- 

suf), 456 
Sanusiyya Brotherhood, the, 

468 

-Saqaliba, 413 
Saqtu 'l-Zand, 313, 315 
Sarabi (name of a she-camel), 
56 

Sargon, King, 4 
Sari al-Raffa (poet), 270 
Sari al-Saqati, 386 
Saruj, 330, 331, 332 
Sa'sa'a, 242 

Sasanian dynasty, the, 34, 38, 
40, 41, 42, 214, 256, 358, 457 

Sasanian kings, the, re- 
garded as divine, 214 

Satire, 73, 200, 245, 246 

Saturn and Jupiter, conjunc- 
tion of, 322 

Sa'ud b. 'Abd al-'Aziz b. 
Muhammad b. Sa'ud, 466 

Sawa, 333 

Sayf b. Dhi Yazan, 29 
-Sayfiyya College, the, in 

Cairo, 395 
Savfu 'l-Dawla (Hamdanid), 

269-271, 393-307, 311, 313, 

360 

Saylu 'l-'Arim, 14 

Schack, A. F. von, 360, 416, 

436, 44i 
Schefer, C, 324 
Scheherazade, 457 
Scholasticism, Muhammadan, 

284, 363, 460. See -Ash 'ari ; 

Ash'arites ; Orthodox Re- 
action 
Schreiner, 379 
Schulthess, F., 87 
Sciences, the Foreign, 282, 

283, 358-364 
Sciences, the Moslem.develop- 

ment and classification of, 

282,283 
Scripture, People of the, 341 
Sea-serpent, the, 354 



Sedillot, 360 

Seetzen, Ulrich Jasper, 8 
Seleucids, the, 276 
Self-annihilation (fana), the 

Sufi doctrine of, 233 
Selim I (Ottoman Sultan), 448 
Seliuq dynastv, the, 264, 265, 

268, 275, 276" 326, 445 
Seljuq b. Tuqaq, 275 
Seljuq Turks, the, 275, 444 
Sell, Rev. E., 468 
Semites, the, xv, xvi, 1, 328 
Semitic languages, the, xv, 

xvi 

Senegal, 430 

Seville, 399, 406, 416, 420, 421, 
422, 424, 425, 427, 431, 435, 
437. 447 

Shabib, 209 

Shabwat, 5 

Shaddad (king), 1 

Shaddad b.-Aswad al-Laythi, 
166 

Shadharatu 'l-Dhaliab, 339, 

399. 436, 460 
-Shadhili (Abu 1-Hasan), 461 
Shadhili order of dervishes, 

393. 461 
-Shafi'i, 284, 409 
Shafi'ite doctors, biographical 

work on the, 339 
Shahnama, the, by Firdawsi, 

265, 325 
-Shahrastani, 211, 216, 220, 

221, 223, 224, 297, 341, 388 
Shahrazad, 457 
sha'ir (poet), 72, 73 
Shakespeare, 252 
Shamir b. Dhi '1-Ja\vshan,i96, 

197, 198 
Shams (name of a god), 11 
Shams b. Malik, 81 
Shamsiyya, Queen of Arabia, 

4 

Shamsu 'l-Ulum, 13 
-Shanfara, 79-81, 89, 97, 134, 
326 

Shaqiq (Abu 'Ali), of Balkh, 
232, 233, 385 
I Sharahil (Sharahbil), 18 
I -Sha'rani, 225, 226, 392, 400, 

403, 443, 460, 462, 464-465 
I shari'at, 392 
' -Sharif al-Jurjani, 456 

-Sharif al-Radi (poet), 314 

Sharifs. of Morocco, the. 442 

Sharik b. Amr, 44 

Sharwasan, 391 

Shas, 125 

Shayban (clan of Bakr), 58 
-Shaykh al-Akbar, 404. See 

Muhiyyu 'l-Din Ibnu 

'I- Arab i 
Sheba, 4 

Sheba, the Queen of, 18 
Shem, the son of Noah, xv, 

xviii 
shi'a (party), 213 
Shi'a, the, 213. See Shi'ites, tlie 
-Shifa, 361 

Shihabu 'l-Din al-Suhrawardi. 
See -Suhrawardi 

33 



-Shihr, dialect of, xxi 

Shi'ites, the, xxviii, 207, 208, 
213-220, 222, 248, 249, 250, 
262, 267, 268, 271-275, 297, 
379. 409, 428, 432, 445, 466 

shikaft (Persian word), 232 

-shikaftiyya (the Cave- 
dwellers), 232 

Shilb, 416 

Shiraz, 266, 307 

Shirazad, 457 

-Shirbini, 450 

-shurat (the Sellers), 209 

Shu'ubites, the, 279-280, 344, 
372 

Sibawayhi, 343 
Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, 355 
Sicily, xvi, 52, 441 
sidd'iq, meaning of, 218, 375 
-Siddiq (title of Abu Bakr), 
183 

Sidi Khalil al-Jundi, 456 
Sifatu Jazirat al-Arab, 12, 
18, 20 

Siffin, battle of, 192, 208, 377 
-sihrwa-l-kimiya (Magic and 

Alchemy), 283 
-Sila ft akhbari aimmati 

'l-Andaliis, 426 
Silves, 416 

Simak b. 'Ubayd, 210 
Sinbadh the Magian, 258 
Sindbad, the Book of, 363 
Sinimmar, 40 
Siqadanj, 252 
Siratu 'Autar, 459 
Siratu Rasuli 'Hah, 349 
siyatui, 394 

Siyaru Muluk al-'Ajam, 348 
Slane, Baron MacGuckin de, 
32, 104, 129, 132, 136, 190, 
213, 224, 229, 245, 261, 267, 
278, 2S8, 289, 295, 326, 343, 
344. 348, 355. 357, 359. 360, 
37i, 377. 378, 387, 408, 422, 
425, 427, 429, 435, 437, 438, 

440. 45i 
Slaves, the, 413 
Smith, R. Payne, 52 
Smith, W. Robertson, 56, 199 
Snouck Hurgronje, 217 
Solecisms, workon, by -Hariri, 

336 

Solomon, xvii 

Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 428 

Soothsayers, Arabian, 72, 74, 

152, 159, 165 

South Arabic inscriptions, 
the. See Inscriptions, South 
Arabic 

South Arabic language, the, 

xvi, xxi, 6-1 1 
Spain, xvi, xxx, 199, 203, 204, 

253, 264, 276, 399, 405-441, 

442, 443, 449, 454 
Spain, the Moslem conquest 

of, 203, 204, 405 
Spencer, Herbert, 382 
Spitta, 378 

Sprenger, A.. 143. 145, 149, 

153, 456 
Steiner, 369 



498 



INDEX 



Steingass, F., 328 

Stephen bar Sudaili, 389 

Stones, the worship of, in 
pagan Arabia, 56 

Stories, frivolous, reprobated 
by strict Moslems, 330 

Street-preachers, 374 

Stylistic, manual of, by Ibn 
Qutayba, 346 

-Subki (Taju '1-Din), 461 

Suetonius, 354 

st// (wool), 228 

Sufi, derivation of, 227, 228 ; 
meaning of, 228, 229, 230 

Sufiism, 227-233, 382, 383-404, 
460, 462, 463-465 

Sufiism, Arabic works of 
reference on, 338 

Sufiism, origins of, 228-231, 
388-389; distinguished from 
asceticism, 229, 230, 231 ; 
the keynote of, 231 ; argu- 
ment against the Indian 
origin of, 233 ; composed of 
many different elements, 
389, 390 ; different schools 
of, 390 ; foreign sources of, 
390 ; principles of, 392 ; 
definitions of, 228, 385, 392 

Sufis, the, 206, 327, 339, 381, 
460-465. See Sufiism 

Sufyan b. 'Uyayna, 366 

Suhaym b. Wathil (poet), 
202 

-Suhrawardi (Shihabu '1-Din 
Abu Hafs 'Umar), 230, 232, 
338, 396 

-Suhrawardi (Shihabu '1-Din 
Yahya), 275 

-Sukkari, 128, 343 

-Sulayk b. -Sulaka, 89 

Sulaym (tribe), xix 

Sulayma, 34 

Sulayman (Umayyad Caliph), 

200, 203 
Sulayman al-Bistani, 469 
-Suli, 297 

-Suluk luma'rifati Duwali 

'l-Muluk, 453 
-Sumayl b. Hatim, 406 
Sumayya, 195 

-Sunan, of Abu Dawud al-Siji- 
stani, 337 

-Sunan, of Ibn Maja, 337 

-Sunan, of -Nasa'i, 337 

-sunna, 144, 234 

-sunna, collections of tradi- 
tions bearing on, 337 

Sunnis, the, 207 

Sunnis and Shi'ites, riot be- 
tween the, 445 

sura, 143, 159 

Sura of Abu Lahab, the, 160 
Sura of Coagulated Blood, 

the, 151 
Sura of the Elephant, the, 68 
Sura of the Enwrapped, the, 

152 

Sura of the Morning, the, 152 
Sura, the Opening, 143, 168 
Sura of Purification, the, 164. 
See Suraiu 'l-Ikhlas 



Sura of the Severing, the, 161 
Sura of the Signs, the, 162 
Sura of the Smiting, the, 163 
Sura of the Unbelievers, the, 
163 

Suratu 'l-Fatiha (the opening 
chapter of the Koran), 168. 
See Sura, the Opening 

Suratu 'l-Ikhlas, 461. See Sura 
of Purification, the 

Suratu 'l-Tahrim, 454 

Surra-man-ra'a, 263 

Surushan, 391 

-Sus, 431 

Suwayqa, 398 

Suyut, 454 

-Suyuti (Jalalu '1-Din), 55, 71, 
145, 403, 434, 455 

Syria, xxiv, xxvii-xxx, 3, 5, 26, 
33, 35. 43, 46, 49, 5°, 51, 52, 
54 63, 73, 84- 123, 132, 142, 
148, 170, 184, 185, 186, 191, 
193, 199, 207, 215, 232, 240, 
247, 255, 262, 268, 269, 271, 
274, 275, 303, 304, 350, 355, 
358, 382, 386, 388, 390, 4°5, 
418, 419, 442, 443, 446, 448, 
451, 461, 468 

Syria, conquest of, by the 
Moslems, 184 



T 

Ta'abbata Sharran (poet), 79, 

81, 97, 107, 126 
Tabala, 105 

Tabaqatu 'l-Atibba, 266 
Tabaqatu 'l-Sufiyya, 338 
Tabaran, 339 

-Tabari, 1, 27, 35, 37, 38, 41, 4 2 , 
44, 45, 48, 49, 66-68, 70, 145, 
155, 156, 158, 185, 186, 187, 
189, 210, 212, 215, 218, 219, 
256, 258, 259, 265, 277, 349- 
332, 355, 356, 373, 376 

-Tabari's Annals, abridgment 
of, by -Bal'ami, 265, 352 

Tabaristan, 350 

-Tabi'un (the Successors), 229 
tabi'iyyun, 381 

Table, the Guarded, 163 

Tabriz, 461 

Tacitus, 194 

Tadhkiratu 'l-Awliya, by 
Faridu'ddin 'Attar, 226, 228, 
387 

tadlis, 145 

Tafsiru 'l-Jalalayn, 455 
Tafsiru 'l-Qur'an, by -Tabari, 

1, 145, 35i 
-Taftazani, 456 
Taghlib (tribe), xix, 44, 55-6o, 

61, 76,93, 107, 109, 110, 112, 

113, 240, 253, 269 
Tahafutu 'l-Falasifa, 341 
Tahir, 262, 263 

Tahirid dynasty, the, 263, 265 
tahrimu 'l-makasib, 297 
Ta'if, 158 

-Ta'iyyatu 'l-Kubra, 396, 397, 
402 



-Taiyyatu 'l-Sughra, 397 
tajrid, 394 
Talha, 190 

Ta'limites, the, 381, 382 
Talisman, the, 469 
Tamerlane, 437. See Timur 
Tamim (tribe), xix, 125, 242, 
293 

Tamim al-Dari, 225 
tanasukh (metempsychosis),. 
267 

Tanukh (tribe), xviii, 34, 38 
taqlid, 402 

Tarafa (poet), 44, 101, 107- 

109, 128, 138, 308 
tardiyyat, 294 
Ta'rikhu 'l-Hind, 361 
Ta'rikhu 'l-Hukama, 355, 370 
Ta'rikhu 'l-Khamis, 445 
Ta'rikhu 'l-Khulafa, 455 
Ta'rikhu 'I - Rusul wa - 'I - 

Muluk, 351 
Ta'rikhu 'l-Tamaddun al- 

Islami, 435 
Tariq, 204, 405 
Tarsus, 361 
Tartary, 444! 
tasawwuf (Sufiism), 228 
Tasm (tribe), 4, 25 
tawaf, 117 
tawakkul, 233 
tawhid, 401 

ta'wil (Interpretation), the 

doctrine of, 220 
-tawil (metre), 75, 80 
-Tawwabun (the Penitents), 

218 
Tayma, 84 

Tayyi' (tribe), xviii, 44, S3 r 
H5 

ta'ziya (Passion Play), 218 
Teheran, 361 

Temple, the, at Jerusalem, 

169, 177 
Tennyson, 79 
Teresa, St., 233 

Testament, the Old, 161, 179 
-Tha'alibi, 267, 271, 288, 290,. 

303, 304, 308- 312, 348 
Thabit b. Jabir b. Sufyan, 81, 

126. See Ta'abbata Sharr** 
Thabit b. Qurra, 359 
Thabit Qutna, 221 
Tha'lab, 344 
Thales, 363 
Thamud, 1, 3, 162 
thanawi, 374 
Thapsus, 274 
Thaqif (tribe), 69 
Theodore Abucara, 221 
Theologians, influence of, in 

the "'Abbasid period, 247, 

283, 366, 367 
Thoma (St. Thomas), 46 
Thomas Aquinas, 367 
Thorbecke, H.,55, 90, 114, 129. 

336, 459 
Thousand and One Nights, the, 

34, 456-459. See Arabian 

Nights, the 
-tibb (Medicine), 283 
Tiberius, 194 



INDEX 



499 



-Tibrizi (commentator), 55, 
130 

Tibullus, 425 

Tides, a dissertation on, 354 
Tigris, the, 189, 238, 256, 446 
-Tihama, 62 

Tihama, the, of Mecca, 3 
Tilimsan, 454 

Timur, xxix, 444, 454. See 

Tamerlane 
Timur, biography of, by Ibn 

'Arabshah, 454 
Hnnin, 354 

-Tirimmah (poet), 138 
-Tirmidhi (Abu 'Isa Muham- 
mad), 337 
Titus, 137 

Tobacco, the smoking of, pro- 
hibited, 467 

Toledo, 204, 421-423 

Toleration, of Moslems to- 
wards Zoroastrians, 184 ; 
towards Christians, 184, 
414, 441 

Torah, the, 402. See Penta- 
teuch 

Tornberg, 203, 205, 253, 355, 
429 

Tours, battle of, 204 

Trade between India and 
Arabia, 4, 5 

Trade, expansion of, in the 
'Abbasid period, 281 

Traditional or Religious 
Sciences, the, 282 

Traditions, the Apostolic, col- 
lections of, 144, 247, 337 

Traditions of the Prophet, 
143-146, 237, 277, 278, 279, 
282, 337, 356, 378, 462, 463, 
464, 465, 467 

Trajan, xxv 

Translations into Arabic.from 
Pehlevi, 330, 346, 348, 358 ; 
from Greek, 358, 359, 469 ; 
from Coptic, 358 ; from 
English and French, 469 

Translators of scientific books 
into Arabic, the, 358, 359, 
363 

Transoxania, 203, 233, 263, 
265, 266, 275, 360, 419, 444 

Transoxania, conquest of, by 
the Moslems, 203 

Tribal constitution, the, 83 

Tribes, the Arab, xix, xx 

Tripoli, 468 

Truth, the (Sufi term for God), 
39 2 

Tubba's, the (Himyarite 
kings), 5- 14, 17-26, 42 

Tudih, 398 

tughra, 326 

-Tughra'i (poet), 326 

tughra'i (chancellor), 326 

Tughril Beg, 264, 275 

tulul, 286 

Tumadir, 126 

Tunis, 274, 428, 437, 441 

Turkey, xvi, 169, 394, 404,448, 
466 

Turkey, the Sultans of, 448 



Turks, the, 263, 264, 268, 325, 
343. See Ottoman Turks; 
Seljtiq Turks 

Tus, 339, 340 

Tuwayli', 398 

Tuways, 236 

TwentyYears After, by Dumas, 
272 

U 

'Ubaydu'llah, the Mahdi, 274 
'Ubaydu'llah b. Yahya, 350 
'Ubaydu'llah b. Ziyad, 196, 
198 

Udhayna (Odenathus). 33, 35 
Uhud, battle of, 170, 175 
'Ukaz, the fair of, 101, 102, 
135 

-'Ulama, 320, 367, 460, 461 
Ultra-Shi'ites, the, 258. See 

-Ghulat 
'Uman (province), 4, 62 
'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz (Umay- 

yad Caliph), 200, 203, 204- 

206, 283 
'Umar b. Abi Rabi'a (poet), 

237 

'Umar Ibnu l-Farid (poet), 
323, 394-398, 402, 448, 462 

'Umar b. Hafsun, 410 

'Umar b. al-Khattab (Caliph), 
xxvii, 51, 105, 127, 142, 157, 
183, 185-190, 204, 210, 214, 
215, 242, 254, 268, 297, 435 

'Umar Khayyam, 339 

'Umara, 88 

Umayma (name of a woman), 

90, 91, 92 
Umayya, ancestor of the 

Umayyads, 65, 146, 181, 190 
Umayya b. Abi '1-Salt (poet), 

69. 149-150 
Umayyad dynasty, the, xxviii, 

65, 154, 181, 190, 193-206, 

214, 222, 264, 273, 274, 278, 

279, 282, 283, 347, 358, 366, 

373, 408 
Umayyad literature, 235-247 
Umayyads (descendants of 

Umayya), the, 190, 191. See 

Umayyad dynasty, the 
Umayyads, Moslem prejudice 

against the, 154, 193, 194, 

197, 207 
Umayyads of Spain, the, 253, 

264, 347, 405-414 
-'Umda, by Ibn Rashiq, 288 
Umm 'Asim, 204 
Umm Jamil, 89 
Unays, 67 
-'Urayd, 398 

Urtuqid dynasty,-the, 449 
Usdn 'UGhaba, 356 
'Usfan, 22 
tistadh, 392 
Ustadhsis, 258 
Usyut, 454 

'Utba, a slave-girl, 296 
-'Utbi (historian), 269, 354 
'Uthman b. 'Affan, Caliph, 
xxvii, 142, 185, 190, 191, 



210, 211, 213, 214, 215, 221, 

236, 297 
'Uynnu 'l-Akhbar, 346 
'Uyunu 'l-Anba fi Tabaqat al- 

Atibba, 355. See Tabaqatu 

'l-Atibba 
-'Uzza (goddess), 43, 135, 155 



V 

Valencia, 421 
Valerian, 33 

Van Vloten, 221, 222, 250 
Vedanta, the, 384 
Venus, 18 
Vico, 439 
Victor Hugo, 312 
Villon, 243 

Vizier, the office of, 256, 257. 

See wazir. 
Viziers of the Buwayhid 

dynasty, the, 267 
Vogue, C. J. M. de, xxii 
Vollers, 450 

Vowel-marks in Arabic script 
201 

W 

Wadd, name of a god, 123 
Wadi 'l-Mustad'afin, 394 
Wafayatu 'l-A'yan, 451, 452. 

See Ibn Khallikan 
-Wafi bi 'l-Wafayat, 456 
-wafir (metre), 75 
Wahb b. Munabbih, 247, 459 
Wahhabis, the, 463, 465-468 
Wahhabite Reformation, the, 

465-468 
-Wahidi (commentator), 305, 

307 
-wa'id, 297 
Wa'il xix, 56, 57 
wajd, mystical term, 387, 394 
Wajra, 398 

-Walid b. Abd al- Malik 

(Umayyad Caliph), 200, 

203, 405 
-Walid b. Yazid (Umayyad 

Caliph), 132, 206, 291, 375 
Wallada, 424, 425 
-Waqidi (historian), 144, 261, 

349 

Waraqa b. Nawfal, 149, 150 
wast (executor), 215 
Wasil b. 'Ata, 223, 224, 374 
Wasit, 385, 386 
Water-diviners, honoured by 

the pagan Arabs, 73 
-Wathiq, the Caliph, 257, 369 
wazir, an Arabic word, 256. 

See Vizier 
Wellhausen, J., 56, 128, 135, 

139, 140, 149, 173, 198, 205, 

207, 209, 210, 215, 218, 219, 

222, 250, 365 
Well-songs, 73 
Wellsted, J. R., 8 
West Gothic dynasty in 

Spain, the, 204 
Weyers, 425 



Soo 



INDEX 



Wine-songs, 124, 125, 138, 206, 

325, 417 
Witches, Ballad of the Three, 

19 

Women famed as poets, 89, 

126, 127 ; as Sufis, 233 
Women, position of, in Pre- 

islamic times, 87-92 
Woollen garments, a sign of 

asceticism, 228, 296 
Wright, W., 202, 226, 343 
Writing, the art of, in Pre- 

islamic times, xxii, 31, 102, 

131, 138 

Writing, Arabic, the oldest 

specimens of, xxi 
Wustenfeld, F., xviii, 17, 129, 

132, 190, 213, 245, 253, 275, 
295, 357, 378, 408, 416, 452, 
459 

X 

Xerxes, 256 

Ximenez, Archbishop, 435 



Y 

-Yahud (the Jews), 171 
Yahya b. Abi Mansur, 359 
Yahya b. Khalid, 259, 260, 451 
Yahya b. Yahya, the Berber, 

408, 409 
-Yamama, 25, in, 124 
-Yamama, battle of, xxii, 142 
Yaqsum, 28 
Ya'qub b. -Layth, 265 
Ya'qub al-Mansur (Almo- 

hade), 432 
-Ya'qubi (Ibn Wadih), his- 
torian, 193, 194, 349 
Yaqut, 17, 357 
Ya'rub, 14 

Yatha'amar (Sab:ean king), 4 
Yatha'amar Bayyin, 10, 17 
Yathrib, 62. See Medina 
Yathrippa, 62 
-Yatima. See Yatimatu 
Dahr 



Yatimatu 'l-Dahr, 267, 271, 

304, 308, 348 
-Yawaqit, by -Sha'rani, 403, 

460 

Yazdigird I (Sasanian), 40, 41 
Yazid b. 'Abd al- Malik (Um- 

ayyad Caliph), 200 
Yazid b. Abi Sufyan, 426 
Yazid b. Mu'awiya (Umayyad 

Caliph), 195-199, 208, 241 
Yazid b. Rabi'a b. Mufarrigh, 

19 

-Yemen (-Yaman), xvii, 2, 5, 7, 
11, 12, 15, 17, 22, 23, 24, 26, 
27, 28, 29, 42, 49, 65, 68, 87, 
99, 103, 137, 215, 247, 252, 
274. 405 

Yoqtan, xviii 

Yoqtanids, the, xviii, 4. See 

Arabs, the Yemenite 
Yusuf b. 'Abd al-Barr, 428 
Yusuf b. 'Abd al-Mu'min (Al- 

mohade), 432 
Yusuf b. 'Abd al-Rahman al- 

Fihri, 406 
Yusuf b. Tashifin (Almora- 

vide), 423, 430, 431 



Z 

Zab, battle of the, 181, 253 
Zabad, the trilingual inscrip- 
tion of, xxii 
-Zabba, 35, 36, 37. See Zenobia 
Zabdai, 34 
zaddiq, 375 

Zafar (town in -Yemen), 7, 8, 

17, 19, 21 
Zafar (tribe), 94 
zahid (ascetic), 230 
Zahirites, the, 402, 427, 433 
-Zahra, suburb of Cordova, 

425 

zajal, verse-form, 416, 417, 
449 

Zallaqa, battle of, 423, 431 
-Zamakhshari, 145, 280, 336 
zandik, 375 
I -Zan}, 273 



Zanzibar, 352 
Zapiski, 375 
Zarifa, 15 

Zarqa'u '1-Yamama, 25 
Zayd, son of 'Adi b. Zayd, 
48 

Zayd b. 'Ali b. -Husayn, 297 
Zayd b. 'Amr b. Nufayl, 149 
Zayd b. Hammad, 45 
Zayd b. Haritha, 153 
Zayd b. Kilab b. Murra, 64. 

See Qusayy 
Zayd b. Rifa'a, 370 
Zayd b. Thabit, 142 
Zaydites, the, 297 
Zaynab (Zenobia), 35, 36 
Zaynab, an Arab woman, 237 
Zaynu 'l-'Abidin, 243 
Zenobia, 33, 34, 35 
Zinatu 'l-Dahr, 348 
Zindiqs, the, 291, 296, 319, 368, 

372-373, 387, 460 
Ziryab (musician), 418 
Ziyad, husband of Fatima, 

the daughter of -Khurshub, 

88 

Ziyad ibn Abihi, 195, 256, 342 
Ziyad b. Mu'awiya. See -Na- 

bigha al-Dhubyani 
Ziyanid dynasty, the, 442 
Zone, the, worn by Zoroa- 

strians, 461 
Zoroaster, 184, 258 
Zoroastrians, the, 184, 34 I >354.< 

373, 461 
Zotenberg, H., 352 
Zubayda, wife of Harun al- 

Rashid, 262 
-Zubayr, 190 
-Zuhara, 18 

Zuhayr b. Abi Sulma (poet), 
62, 116-119, 128, 131, 137. 
140, 312 

zuhd (asceticism), 229, 230, 
299 

zuhdiyyat, 294 

Zuhra b. Kilab b. Murra, 64 

-Zuhri (Muhammad b.Muslim 

b. Shihab), 153, 247, 258 
zunnar, 461 



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